Kirby's Corpus
by katiesparks
Summary: I give up; here you go, another drabble collection to look at. But, considering the writer, they should be anything but normal, right? Expect canon couples, AUs, and random outbursts of insanity. MNF: Teacher of The Year- Class 2B is in for quite a shock.
1. Crystal Ball

He walked slowly into the room; his face covered by a long cloak and pulled the heavy ball off the shelf. It was clear like glass except for a cloud space about the size of a quarter in the center.

"Ran? Ran, are you there?" he said and the ball grew darker and darker until it was pitch black. Then, out of the darkness a face appeared.

"Shinichi!" the face said in delight.

"I can't talk for too long, if anyone found you, I don't know what would happen, but it wouldn't be good for either of us." Shinichi whispered softly.

"I know. Shinichi, it's so cold, please, help." She pleaded, tears gathering in her perfect blue eyes.

"I'm doing all I can, Ran, but this kind of magic is illegal. I can't ask just anybody. Even if it is for you, if I get killed then we're both doomed." Shinichi told her, desperate for her to understand.

"Why have you put me here, Shinichi? Why do you leave me in such a place, where it's always dark and cold?" she asked. "If you love me, Shinichi, please, let me leave, get me out!"

"I can't." he whispered, sounding wounded. "I can't lose you, Ran. I'll get you back, you'll see. I love enough to commit high-treason, don't you see? I need you with me."

"Please, Shinichi. For both of us, let me go. Let me die, Shinichi." Ran begged desperately.

"I can't. You are my everything. I can't let you die." He told her and her eyes saddened.

"Oh." Se said, disappointed and the hurt in her eyes nearly had him on his knees, begging for her to forgive him and promising she could have what ever she wanted. But he couldn't promise that; what she wanted was the one thing he couldn't bring himself to give her. "Okay then."

Her face began to fade back into the darkness.

"Wait, Ran! Don't go yet!" he whispered, his lips brushing the smooth crystal of the ball.

"Goodnight." She whispered and disappeared and he sighed as the black began fading from the ball.

Setting the ball down so that it rolled to the center of the thin tatami he sat upon, Shinichi looked wistfully out the shades, which were still open, even at this time of night. The moon shone above him, full and plump.

"Ran..." he breathed before he standing up and brushing the dust off his thin cotton yukata. Then, replacing the crystal ball on its shelf, he walked silently from the room.


	2. Ama

Aoko looked up at the green clouds and sighed, letting the cool breeze caress her face. Her toes curled around the springs of grass growing from the ground and dug into the soft ground. Smiling softly, she fell back onto the ground and lay there staring at the brilliant blue of the set as it began to set.

'_Why would anyone ever leave beautiful Ama for boring, polluted, Earth? Ama is the last hope for civilization. Ama is all the best points of humanity. Ama is my home.' _She thought as the sun sunk lower in the yellow sky, making it take on a greenish hue.

Her spider-silk white dress did little to block the feel of the ground, which was softer than cotton.

"Aoko!" Keiko called from a distant, her own dress hitched up around her upper thighs and three large purple fish hanging by their tails in her hand. "Aoko!"

"I'm coming!" the girl in question said and stood up before darting off towards her friend. Laughing, she jumped the last ten meters to land beside her friend in a cloud of white dust. A blade of orange grass was in her hair and Keiko used her free hand to pull it out.

"Daydreaming again, Aoko?" Keiko asked with a smile.

"Not so much. I was watching the sunset. You think this is enough?" Aoko asked, motioning towards the fish.

"Probably, half the girls in our cabin have _invados _set up for tonight. Why don't you ever go out, Aoko?" Keiko asked while they were on the topic and Aoko sighed, it was a conversation they had too often.

"I'm not ready yet, Keiko. And I enjoy being a _virgo_." Aoko said and Keiko gave a long suffering sigh, but dropped the argument.

"Fine then, Aoko. The newest bunch came in today. Refugees, they said. According to the High Counsel, they have excellent genetics, so they're being permitted to stay. But they aren't allowed to be a part of the Counsel or give any opinions on Opinion Day or even talk about Earth at all. That way, they say the pollution won't be able to spread here. I heard, if they speak about Earth at all, then they'll be killed or sent back, which is as good as a death sentence right now." Keiko said and Aoko wrung her hands fretfully.

"Refugees from Earth are here? I can't believe it." Aoko said

"Well it's true. A couple are our age and three or four are in the boys cabin right next to ours. I think Ran and Kazuha have their sights set on two of them. That's good at least, they're as bad as you. Akako had her eyes on the blond one too, which was strange. I'm surprised she hasn't made a move yet." Keiko rambled off and Aoko smiled, nodding when appropriate while her mind raced ahead.

'_From Earth. People from Earth here on Ama, being allowed to say on Ama. They will kill the planet with their old ways, they will kill civilization. They will kill humanity. They will kill __**us.**__'_

Finally, they made it back their cabin and pushed aside the curtain before walking in. They carried the fish past the rows of cots and into the joint section of the boys' and girls' cabins where the kitchen, common room, and pleasure quarters were.

"Ran! We brought back fish!" Keiko called and the girl appeared, a handsome man hanging around her elbow.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did we interrupt you? I'm sure we could handle the cooking if you're going to be busy." Keiko said immediately upon seeing the man.

"No, no, it's quite alright. This is Shinichi; he's one of the refugees from Earth. He was telling me about the shuttle ride here." Ran said and the man smiled, extending his hand for them to shake. The two girls did so in turn.

"I'm Keiko and this is Aoko. It's very nice to meet you, Shinichi. Are you going to help us cook?" Keiko said and Shinichi smiled.

"Actually, I was already stuck with cooking for the boys' cabin. Apparently, I've got more skill than either Heiji or Kaito and Saguru is, um, otherwise occupied." Shinichi said, the last part accompanied by a blush.

"No reason to be embarrassed, Shinichi. They publicly encourage us to do things like that here." Aoko said.

"Either way, I'll take these and have dinner done in about an hour. I've been helping Shinichi in here also, even if he says he has the most skill, he's got little to one, which makes me wonder about the rest of them. You two should go into the common room, Heiji and Kaito are in there and Kaito is still having fun with our lighter gravity. The other three are wearing anklets. Show them, Shinichi." Ran said, nudging the man and he lifted up the hem of his pants to reveal a heavy lead anklet around each ankle. They anklets had been designed to help Earth tourists (and, more recently, refugees fleeing from the carnage of World War IIX) adjust to the much lighter gravity of Ama.

Okay then, we'll see you later, Ran!" Keiko said and Ran and her friend disappeared into the kitchen. Keiko then turned to Aoko. "Alright, Aoko. Go in there and talk with them, okay? I'll be back before Ran comes back, I'm going to see Shiro for a couple of minutes. Don't tell anyone, okay?"

Aoko nodded and Keiko kissed her cheeks in gratitude before running down the hall toward the pleasure quarters. Aoko sighed and walked into the common room. Sitting on the small couch was a dark skinned man who was only wearing pants and leaning against his stomach from her place on the ground was Kazuha. They were both looking up at the ceiling, where a third man who looked very similar to Ran's Shinichi was crawling around like a spider.

"What in the world?" Aoko said and Kazuha and the dark skinned man looked over.

"Aoko! Did you and Keiko bring back dinner?" Kazuha asked and Aoko nodded.

"Yes, we got some fish, though I'm afraid I wasn't much help. How...?" Aoko trailed off and pointed to the man on the ceiling who was laughing at them now.

"That's Kaito. This is Heiji. They just got here from Earth." Kazuha said.

"Nice to meet'cha." The man on the couch, Heiji, drawled. He pointed up. "He defied the laws of gravity on Earth. With less of them to break here, it's a wonder he has flown away yet."

"You're no fun, Heiji." Kaito said, jumping down off the ceiling to land gracefully as any native Amaite would before her.

"Aoko, right? I'm bored in her with the lovebirds, mind showing me around?" he said, seemingly just as at ease on the ground as he had been on the ceiling.

"Ah, sure." She answered as the other two loudly denied their positions as lovebirds.

He took her hand and she felt a blush unwillingly creep along her cheeks.

The walked off into the oncoming night.


	3. Lamp

"So, yeah. I'm a genie. You get three wishes." Heiji said as Conan goggled at the wisps of smoke where his lower body should be.

"Can I wish for you to remove my curse?" Conan asked, remembering the incident with the evil sorcerer, Gin, that had him stuck as a child.

"Not until after the 36th day. And only if you haven't used all your wishes by then." Heiji said.

"What, why?" Conan asked, angry about the length of time.

"Well, because you only get three wishes, of course! I can't give you extra just because you have a _little_ problem." Heiji said, grinning at his own joke.

"Not that, idiot, the 36th day thing! And the little comments are not appreciated." Conan growled.

"Okay, okay, no reason to get you shorts in a knot. As for the 36th day thing, well....." Heiji trailed off.

"Well?" Conan asked impatiently.

"Well, mainly it's just because somebody up there hates you."


	4. My New Friend

"Nakamori Aoko desu. Yoroshiku." The seventeen year old said, bowing in front of the class.

"Thank you, Nakamori-kun. Please take the seat next to the seat by the window." The teacher said and Aoko turned back to the woman, slightly confused.

"Can I just sit in the one by the window?" Aoko asked and the teacher gave her a strange look.

"The other seat please, Nakamori-kun." The teacher said and Aoko sighed and did as she was told.

Minutes later, she looked over and the seat was no longer empty. Instead a boy was sitting there, listening to the teacher with a bored expression. He spotted her looking at him and smiled, waving. She waved back hesitantly.

After awhile, the lunch bell rang and Aoko gathered up her bento carefully, not looking at anyone. A shadow fell over her desk.

"Hi, my name's Kuroba Kaito. You're new, right? Want to come eat lunch with me?" He asked with a friendly smile.

"Um, sure. My name's Nakamori Aoko. You were late to class, weren't you?" Aoko inquired, picking up her lunch and following him out the door.

_She didn't notice the strange looks her classmates gave her as she left._

"You could say that." He said nonchalantly. "Come on, let's go to the roof." He led her up a flight of stairs and they ate on the roof, enjoying each other's company.

The days after that were fun for Aoko, filled with the awe of a new friend to discover. But, then, nearly two weeks after she had first arrived, she was approached by someone who was the singularly most beautiful girl in class, Kozumi Akako.

"Nakamori-chan, correct?" the girl asked and Aoko nodded. "I have been.....watching you. You have made friends with Kuroba-kun, have you not?"

"Kaito? Yes, he's very nice, it seems he should be more popular than he is." Aoko said.

"Hmm, yes, I suppose it would. No matter. All I want to say is that you should watch out for him, he isn't what he seems. Next time you talk to him, ask him why no one talks to you in class, if you don't mind. Goodbye, Nakamori-chan." Akako said, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she turned and walked down the hall.

The next day, as they were eating lunch of the roof yet again, Aoko did ask him.

He looked sheepish and almost apologetic as he rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, I believe that's my fault. You could say that not many of our classmates like me very much. If you wanted to stop hanging out with me, I'm sure you'd make friends in no time."

Aoko elbowed him, "Of course not, that's silly. If they're avoiding me just because they bear some kind of grudge towards you then I don't want to hang out with them anyways."

Kaito ginned wryly. "If you're sure."

Two days after that, several girls from her class approached her.

"We heard that you talk with Kuroba-kun." One of them with blonde pigtails said.

"Yeah, he's really nice." Aoko said, wondering about the strangeness of the encounter.

"Is he really? Oh, what is he like, Aoko-chan? Please tell us? Is he handsome?" one of them squealed while the others giggled.

"If you're so curious, why don't you talk to him yourself, he's right over there, we're about to go eat lunch." Aoko motioned behind her, back towards the door where Kaito was waiting, his bento in his hands.

They looked at her quizzically. "You mean he's in here right now?" the blonde one said and squealed.

"What the-?" Aoko said, watching them and a noise came from her left. She turned and saw Akako sitting there, laughing daintly.

"You mean you still don't understand, Nakamori-chan? _They _can't _see _Kuroba."

Aoko looked at the other girl in confusion. "Why not?"

"Because, my dear. Kuroba-kun has been dead for more than ten years."

It was a week before she saw Kaito again. He appeared in his desk one morning, same as always. When saw him, she abruptly stood up in the middle of class.

"May I be excused?" she inquired (more like demanded) loudly and the teacher nodded.

Aoko leaned over and grabbed the apparition by the arm, dragged him out of his seat, across the room, and out the door. He squawked and squirmed but she held firm as she dragged him towards the stairs to the roof.

"Roof. Now." She demanded, releasing him and he walked up the stairs in silence, looking rather stunned. She trudged up behind him and slammed the door behind her as they exited.

"Now then, Kaito, explain to me about you being dead for ten years and why nobody but me can see you." She demanded heatedly.

"I-I'm not sure why you can see me, honestly. But if you want to know why I died, I can tell you that." He offered and she glared hotly.

"Well, go on then." She said and he sighed and sat on the fall surface of the roof. After a moment, she sat as well and he began.

"I was a student here, about ten years ago, but, in the meantime, I was also a thief. Kaitou Kid." He said and she began to say something but he held up a hand to stop her.

"Please wait until I finish, Aoko." She scowled but nodded and he continued. "My dad was the first Kaitou Kid. I'll never know his reasons, but I know he got into something too big for him and some bastards murdered him for it. Years later, I found his secret room and his costume and it became my mission to bring his murderers to justice. It.....it seemed like a noble cause. Not so much revenge, they would've had to die for it to be revenge. So I became Kaitou Kid; to lure them out where I could get them caught. And it worked; they got caught just like I'd hoped. But, they got caught for murdering one Kuroba Kaito while he was sitting in his class like any average high schooler. Did you ever wonder why I brought the same thing for lunch everyday and why it always looked the same and why I never ate one portion of it? Ever wonder why I never offered you any of mine and never accepted any of yours? It's because I can't. I have to do the same thing every single day. Even when the teachers aren't here, even during the summer, I sit bored in class until lunch, then I go to the roof and eat lunch, then I go and sit bored in class until school ends. Every day, day in and day out. When you could see me, I was so excited. Everyone knows I'm there but they can't see me, can't hear my voice or talk to me. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I didn't want to scare you away. I was lonely."

"I'm sorry, I had no idea." Aoko whispered. He slung an arm around her shoulders.

"It's okay. This is the most fun I've had in a decade." Kaito said with a smile.

"How can you do that?" she asked suddenly.

"Do what?" he asked, confused.

"Touch me." She said. "You're a ghost, right? Why do you feel so real? I can even feel your heartbeat."

"As for the heartbeat, that's been my favorite question for the last five year, before that, it was: Why did they kill me during school of all things? I mean, couldn't they have killed me on a heist? At least then I could steal the same jewel for years on end instead of listening to the same material for an eternity. I wonder what'll happen if the school gets torn down? Will I end up sitting in an imaginary desk in the middle of a supermarket?" Kaito wondered idly.

"Shut up." Aoko said and then sighed. "I don't understand this."

"Welcome to the club." He murmured.

She stood up suddenly and offered him a hand. "Well, come on."

"Huh?"

She gave him a look. "I need to get back to class. Can you effect things in the real world?"

"Yeah, no problem, why?" he asked as he stood up with her.

"Good. We're going back down there right now to explain to the class that I'm not crazy and then you are going to do something to prove it and then we're all going to pretend you are our new, invisible, classmate. And I'm going to get the teacher to start putting tests and homework on your desk just like everyone else and you better do it, damn it." She had wondered for a while why he never had to take any tests or write any notes. Now, she was determined he do so.

He laughed. "You sure are strange, Aoko."

But he followed her down the stairs anyways.


	5. My New Friend: OMAKE

'_Whoosh'_ a breeze swept through the classroom, blowing up several girls underwear.

"Kaito-kun!" they shrieked and Aoko marched over to a seemingly empty bit of space and slapped it. Hard.

"I _told _you to stop that and I meant it, damn it." Aoko hissed and her classmates imagined that they could almost hear him laughing as she scowled.

And he was laughing, hysterically, really. "I'm sorry, can't resist. They're such easy targets!"

"Oh, really?" Aoko said, thinking back to her experiments the week before. It was the strangest thing. One, she tried drawing on Kaito's hand in class. Everyone in class could see the floating ink, but not the hand. The next day, another girl attempted to draw on him out of curiosity. She was met with only air. Aoko grabbed a bucket of red paint they had been using to paint banners for the cultural festival and poured it over his head. His body was outlined clearly and the girls gasped, 'seeing' the legendary Kuroba-kun for the first time.

"Now, you're the easy target! Vengeance's a bitch, Kaito!" she said, walking off as the girls stalked him around the room, though they still couldn't touch him.

Kaito shook his head. Even with the fangirls and constant beatings, he was still having the time of his afterlife.


	6. MNF: Spin Off

**Written for this universe by the ever-talented juncici-chan! Shower her with praise! **

Invisible as it was, the wind was there. It moved silently between the leaves of a tree, *rustle, rustle*, curving under a metal pipe on the ground until itwhistled, *sh, sh*, over the building and it's flags, *hwah, hwahh*, lowering to the bells that hung simply from a store door, *ting-a-ling-a-ling, ting-a-ling-a-ling*.

A little girl; seven, maybe, eight, maybe, swung gently on a swing. Her hands don't grasp the metal chains nearly as tight as she should because they aretoo large and she is too little. Her little body hurled forward, stubby legs straight out infront of her, a little pink dress trailing behind her... Then the movement stops abruptly, and she pulls back to swing forward again.

He watches this, silently, beside her. It wasn't like she was going to see him, or care. It had been six months since he had fallen asleep in school and woken up disoriented. Five months since he's pieced it all together. Two months since he's given up on anyone noticing.

She was pretty, all soft strands of hair and big, unearthly blue eyes. He wondered what her name was, how old she was, why was she alone in this deserted park anyways?

"Are you lonely, Onii-san?"

She turned to look at him, still swinging in a jerky, seven-maybe-eight manner that she did before. He stared at her, mouth gaping wide. What the...

"Are you, Onii-san?" She repeated.

He found himself nodding (because that was the truth, he was lonely, lonely, agonizingly alone) and the little girl gave him a wide, toothy smile, except one tooth ride in the middle was gone. He remembered that's where he lost his first tooth too.

(*"Honey! Let's take a picture, take a picture! Our son's all grown up now!"

Kuroba Toichi's gone the next day"*)

"Hi!" She shouted out enthusiastically, perfectly applying the child-like belief that louder means better. He found that it did--his ears might still beringing, but that least now they rung. "My name is Ao-ko! And what's yours?"

He wondered if he should say Kuroba Kaito, that's my name, here's a rose, nice to meet you. But it seems like such a useless sentimentality now, his last name. Something wholly human that he needn't participate in.

That scared him more then anything else.

He held out a rose--Kaitou KID's still a magician, dead or alive--smiling sweetly, murmuring, "Here. I'm Kuroba Kaito. Nice to meet you."

The little girl beamed, accepting the rose and promptly pushing her face right against it, sniffing exaggeratedly at the flower. "Mm! Nice to meet you too!"

He watched this all in awe. He couldn't even begin how grateful he was to be seen by her. He...

A man, tall, burly, the type that could mix into a crowd but come right out of it again, walked through. Kaito's eyes widened. It was Nakamouri-keibu.

"Aoko!" Nakamouri-keibu shouted angrily, "How many times do I have to tell you not to come to this park? It's dangerous! Go play by the clock tower instead!"

"But Daddy~ I've met a new friend, see?" Aoko pointed at the swing-set next to her, still swaying gently. Kaito looked for any sign of recognition from Nakamouri-keibu. "His name's Kaito-nii-san! He gave me this pretty flower, see?" She thrust out her hand, her fist still grasping on to the stem. Kaito was glad he had smoothed out the thorns before.

Nakamouri-keibu stared at his daughter, then at the empty swing swaying eerily in the wing (*ching, ching*, the old, too-big-for-Aoko's-little-hands-chain rang, *ching, ching*), then at the pretty bundle of air in her out-stretched fist. He wondered if he should be worried, then decided against it. Aoko was seven and a half. These things were normal, right? (He wished he still had a wife to report these matters to)

"Well, come along then, Aoko, we have to go to dance class."

He held her hand and pulled gently, but she wouldn't let go the wing.

"Say hello to Kaito-nii-chan!" She demanded shrilly, "See? He's waiting for you to say hi!"

Kaito stared at her in surprise. He was, but not in the way she thought. It was obviously the man did not care about him.

Nakamouri-keibu turned to the empty swing in exasperation.

"Hello, Kaito-nii-chan."

Aoko hopped off the swing, satisfied. She followed her father away...

"Wait, will you be back?" Kaito asked. Maybe the wind heard his plea, because it stopped for a moment to deliver his words and brought her words back to him. Aoko turned and smiled over her shoulders. A toothy smile that reminded Kaito of his last photograph with his dad.

"`Course, Kaito-nii-chan! Because I'm lonely too."

Invisible as it was, the wind was there. It moved silently between the leaves of a tree, *rustle, rustle*, curving under a metal pipe on the ground until it whistled, *sh, sh*, over the building and it's flags, *hwah, wahh*, lowering to the bells that hung simply from a store door, *ting-a-ling-a-ling, ting-a-ling-a-ling*.

Invisible as he was, Kaito felt like shouting to the world.


	7. Forgot

She woke up.

She was in a bed. Her sheets were white. Her eyes were green. Her legs were cold.

These were the things she could figure out on her own.

Her name was Toyama Kazuha. She was seventeen. She had lots of good friends. There were tears on her face.

These were the things she had needed help on.

He had burst into the room at one point or another, looking worried and relived at once, which she found quite amusing. His skin was darker than hers and she marveled at that fact.

"Kazuha! Kazuha, are you okay? How-how's your head?" He asked, his voice getting progressively softer.

She looked at him blankly. "My...head?" she said at length.

"You got hit on the head, Kazuha." He supplied and she raised her fingers to brush against her forehead. A bandage was covering it and her temple throbbed painfully as she reminded it that it was hurt.

"Ow. I guess I did." She said, smiling at him lightly. "How do you know my name?"

He gaped at her. "Kazuha, it's me, your best friend, Hattori Heiji!"

"Hei....ji?" she said and he nodded.

"You remember me, right?" he said and she shook her head before wincing.

"No. I-I don't remember anything. I looked at the cards. My name's Kazuha, right?" she said, motioning towards the 'Get Well' cards her friends had sent her.

Heiji sighed and stepped closer to her. "Yes, your name is Kazuha. I'm....sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, Kazuha. Your mother died in an accident this morning and you injured your head. You father says, since he can bear no more children without is Queen, you are to be wed within the month."

Kazuha looked at him with wide, frightened eyes. "My mother was the Queen?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, 'Zuha." He said and the nickname sounded nice on his lips.

"I don't understand. I'm scared." She said, curling into herself.

He sat on the other side of the bed and hesitantly put an arm around her shoulders. "Kazuha? You have to get married. So, would you like to get married to me?"

She looked up. "I'm the Princess?" she asked and he nodded. "Princesses have to marry Princes."

He grinned. "You really can't remember me. I _am_ a prince, silly. Me and you, we're best friends. It won't be too bad, if we can put up with each other 16/7 then we could probably stand another 8 hours with each other a day. Besides, you're not so bad."

"Do you love me?" she asked and he sputtered and blushed.

"I, um....Maybe?" he offered.

"Maybe?" she asked.

"I don't know. I know that I can't stand it when you aren't around, drives me crazy. And a million other things about you. They say that's love. I wouldn't know. I've never been in love." He admitted honestly.

"Hmm, me neither, I think." She said before facing him determinedly.

"What are you doing?" he asked cautiously.

She leaned forward and kissed him soundly on the lips. He squawked but didn't pull away. She finally leaned back.

"Okay, I'll marry you." She said. "But, while were at it, can we try and get my memories back too? I'd like to remember you."

Heiji sputtered for another moment before he regained enough sense to answer her. "Ah, sure. Whatever you say, Kazuha."


	8. Babe

"Sorry, Ran! Go on ahead of me! I'll catch up with you right away!" Shinichi said, running off towards what seemed to all the world to be a deserted alley in between attractions.

As she watched him go, a feeling crept over here. A very _bad _feeling. '_Shinichi...' _

Without another thought, she took off after him. She watched him watch the two men making the obviously illegal deal before she saw the other man from the roller coaster sneaking up on him, something long and dangerous looking in his hands. Vaguely, even as she raced forward to stop the man from hitting her friend, she noticed he wore no gloves. He would leave behind fingerprints when he dropped his weapon, which he would. One does not carry and long, bloodied pipe around with them, the black trench coats were bad enough as it was. But those types of thoughts were in the very back of her mind as she intercepted the long haired man, blocking his blow with the side of her arm.

"Shinichi, police! I'll hold them off!" she yelled as her friend turned around, startled. To his credit, he only hesitated a second before breaking off into a run towards the coaster, where the police would still be lurking after the earlier crime scene. The blonde man grunted, withdrawing the pipe and preparing to strike again. With a swift kick, Ran knocked it out of his hands and it went flying somewhere behind her.

The man grinned before pulling his gun out of his jacket and pointing it at her. "Don't move, little girl." He said coldly and she froze, though she kept her venomous gaze locked on him. Suddenly, she felt something collide with her head and she fell, stunned and pained.

"....kill her?"

"...poison.....organization.....no signs.....humans....guinea pig..." Something forced it's way down her throat and she swallowed, instantly regretting it as a burning sensation filled her body. She heard them run away and she lay there, bleeding and hurting and _dying._ _'Shinichi...I'm sorry....I love you....'_

----

Shinichi ran back towards the scene of the crime, angry with himself and with the police. They were gone, all of them, having just let minutes before! If only his deduction hadn't been so clear, they'd still be around investigating! He ran back, hoping against hope that Ran would still be there, smiling broadly with the two men at her feet.

"_You didn't really think a couple of guys like these could hurt me, did you?" _Dream-Ran asked amusedly.

But instead, upon returning, all he saw was an empty patch of grass and a pile of slightly steaming clothes which he approached warily. But that skirt...it was Ran's, wasn't it? If they had her and her clothes were here...! Shinichi stormed over to the pile in a rage, picking them up all at once. But they were too heavy....

He peered inside and a tiny baby, not older than a couple of months at best, looked out at him. Then she began to cry. Panicking, Shinichi did the only thing he could think of. He ran home.

He opened the door and set the baby on the sofa where it continued to cry pitifully, it's head slightly bloody. It was naked under his friend's clothes and it had her eyes....There is only one truth, but this seemed far too strange.

Gently, he lifted the baby, whose cries lessened slightly at the adult presence. He examined the wound on its head gingerly and discovered it looked worse than it was. He cleaned it off and wrapped it very lightly with some gauze before leaving it along. Next he took a dish cloth and fastened a diaper out of it, wrapping it around the baby girl's hips and securing it with a clothespin. Finally, he grabbed a soft blanket and wrapped it around her as well before holding the babe against his chest and bouncing slightly like his mother had taught him to long ago when he was forced to help her baby sit a friend's child.

'_That's right, Shinichi, hold her close a support the head and back. Be very gentle, she's a human like you, but she breaks a lot easier and she needs you to do things for her.' _ His mother's voice floated back on a memory and he followed the instructions just the same. The baby stopped crying.

After a moment, Shinichi gathered his wits about him. "Ran? Ran-chan, is that you?" he said hesitantly but the babe gave no reaction other than blinking heavily and relaxing even more thoroughly in his arms. "Right. Baby, got it. Well, how about Hana-chan then, until I know for sure? That's not so bad."

The babe snuggled closer to his chest and he hummed a lullaby as he sat on the couch. "Hana-chan it is then."


	9. Site

One day, just another ordinary day, Ran decided to start a scrapbook. Not just any scrapbook, but a scrapbook about Shinichi and his rise to fame. So, first she bought the scrapbook. Then she bought cute decorations for the scrapbook. Then she bought some glue, because they didn't have any for some reason. (But she remembers seeing it out on her father's desk and wonders if he might've eaten it.)

Once all this was done, she did what any sensible person would do next; she went online to try and find newspaper clippings of her ego-maniac of a fiance. But, strangely enough, the first website she pulled up seemed to be a....fanfiction site?

She clicked on it and was assaulted by summaries. And the more she looked at the strange site, the angrier she became.

XxX

Shinichi walked in the door of his house after a long day of work and wasn't surprised to see Ran's shoes there at the door.

"Hey, Ran! You here?" he yelled out.

"Up here!" she said and something about her voice seemed...off. He proceeded to the study, where her voice had sounded from, with caution.

He walked in and saw her seated at the desk, the computer on in front of her, casting a mechanical glow on her face. She turned around in the swivel chair with all the grace of the Evil Boss confronting the Dashing Handsome Heroes.

"Did I forget some sort of special date or something?" he tried after a moment of strained silence and she shook her head, the picture of calm rage.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked warily.

"I hope not." She said, her voice even.

"Did you find something you didn't like?" he ventured, thinking she might've found one of his fan sites.

Her gaze hardened. "Definitely." She motioned to the monitor behind her and he moved slightly closer. It didn't _look_ like one of his fan sites, it was merely a white screen and text, no pictures. But then he read a paragraph and promptly feared for his life, despite the falseness of the story it seemed to be accounting.

"Now, Shinichi, read this and then remind me again; What, _exactly_,was your relationship with Haibara-kun?"

* * *

**IMPORTANT ANNOCEMENT OF THE PLAN OF AWESOMENESS: We are planning to send a birthday card to Gosho that would come from the fandom. Anyone interested in putting in a comment and their names can send it via email to either s2lou or me. Due date is on June 10th. Oh, and anyone who would know Gosho's adress would be welcome to speak up—we're researching but it would be easier for us that way.'**


	10. Littlest Fan

"I'm not gonna think about it; I'm not gonna think about it. Not gonna think about" Conan chanted to himself as he watched Ran struggle with her new set of crutches.

"Shinichi? I'm ready to go when you are." she said and he could feel the nurses and doctors watching him, could feel the people around the room staring at him.

"I'm ready, let's go home. I can't stand this any longer." The last part he muttered to himself as he shouldered Ran's admittedly heavy purse and walked out the door of the hospital.

She hobbled along beside him, chatting about this and that a grazing lightly over those topics he didn't want to hear. "....And Makoto-kun actually got up the nerve to ask her out on a date on his own for once. Isn't that great? Sonoko's ecstatic." Ran said and he struggled to pay attention to her and not the stares and the whispers of the people on the sidewalks, people who gave them wide berth and whispered, even as they neared.

"_....little boy, I think not!"_

"_Kudo Shinichi? No way, he's...."_

"_Look at him, acting like he's something! __**I **__could...."_

"_Why is she even still with him? I'd be so angry I'd....."_

"_....poor dear, what happened was just....."_

"_......deserves what he got! Little punks should __**know **__better than....."_

"_I remember him! But Kudo-kun's a teenager, isn't he?"_

It was one thing for Ran to find out. It was another thing for Mouri-tantei, Kisaki-san, the Shounen Tantei, Sonoko, Kazuha, Hattori-san, Megure-keibu, Takagi-keiji, Satou-keiji, Nakamori-keibu, and Hakuba to find out. Even with a list like that, in the grand scale of things, that wasn't so many people. But, it was another thing _entirely_ for the _whole fucking world _to learn his secret! It didn't _matter_ that the Organization was gone, he was still Conan and, like this, was useless! But there was nothing he could do.

He had followed Gin and Vodka back to their hideout with Hattori and Kaitou Kid in tow. Things had been going well, little to none down on their side and a whole lot on the other side. But then, the unthinkable happened; Ran showed up. And suddenly, it went from being a game of 'Try to Make Swiss Cheese Out of Detectives and One Thief' to 'Everyone Aim At the Innocent Teenage Girl Walking In! That'll Help Us!' Needless to say, it did not go well. Thanks to some quick thinking on Conan's part and some even quicker reflexes on Hattori's, Conan was promptly hurled into Ran, hiting her in the stomach and knocking her down to the ground as Kid and Heiji took the defensive above them.

Ran got shot it the leg (a pretty nasty wound) and Conan had gotten a punctured spleen out of the deal. As soon as it was safe, they called the police and an ambulance and off the two were whisked (along with Heiji and Kid, who protested weakly, even as blood poured from his temple at an alarming rate).

And somehow, someway, during all of this and the corresponding stays at the hospital that were required, someone did a little research with the copious amounts of blood left behind in the ER by one Edogawa Conan. And what they found was all over the news by the time he was conscious again.

So now, everyone knew. There was no pretending, no dazzling little smile to ward away 'helpful' adults. No, there was only one surly teenager trapped in the body of a seven year old. And, not only was everyone staring, he wasn't even allowed to look back. (Girls these days wore extremely short skirts. And from his point on the ground, he could see right up them and the girls had noticed. They all ran when the saw him coming, hands grasp around the edges of the fabric and holding it tightly against their legs)

"Shinichi, stop glaring." Ran said as she limped along beside him.

"I can't help it. They're all talking about me...." Shinichi said.

"People were always talking about you!" Ran argued.

"But not in a bad way!" he exclaimed and she gave him a 'Look'.

"Well, Mr. Swollen-Ego, not everyone is always going to have something nice to say. Deal with it." She said and sped up.

"Oi, Ran! Wait up!" he said, starting to jog to keep pace with her. Suddenly, someone stepped right out in front of him and he ran straight into them, sending them both to the ground.

"Oh, sorry!" he heard them say and he saw a boy in front of him, not much older than he looked physically. "You're Shinichi-san, right?"

"Yes, how ever unfortunate it might be at the moment." Shinichi answered, rubbing his butt a bit as he stood.

The boy grinned and Shinichi noticed he was missing one of his front teeth. "Great! See, I was wondering, could you sign this for me? Not as Kudo Shinichi, but as Edogawa Conan?"

Shinichi felt his eyebrows jump up. "As...Conan?"

The boy nodded. "Yep! I actually go to school with you, I've been listening to all the detective cases you've done as Conan-kun from Ayumi-chan and I think you're really great as Conan! I don't know anything about Shinichi though. So will you? Please?"

Shinichi nodded and took the proffered pen and paper. "Did you want me to write a message or something...?"

"Um, okay. My name's Atsou." The boy said. "Yoroshiku."

"Yoroshiku." Shinichi answered automatically.

'_To my littlest fan, Atsou. You measure up to the best of them. Edogawa Conan.'_

He handed it back and the boy smiled gratefully.

"Thanks, Conan-kun! Ja ne!" the boy Ran off and Shinichi spotted Ran a little ways off, waiting for him under the awning to a shop.

Shinichi walked the rest of the way home with a smile on his face. _'At the very least, Conan won't be replaced by Shinichi.'_


	11. To Make Her Happy

'_And what if it was as it seemed?'_

"Well, Conan-kun? Are you? Are you Shinichi?" Ran asked, her eyes full of tears and the boy she had just yelled at so heatedly choked on his next words.

"Y-yes..." he said, little tears forming in his big blue eyes.

Ran gasped, looking at him in shock, her face hopeful. "Really? It's you, Shinichi?"

The tears in the boy's eyes built. "N-no." he said and it came out like a sob. "But I _could _be, if you wanted me to, Ran-neechan. If-if that would make you_ happy_..."

Ran immediately regretted questioning him so harshly, when all he really wanted was for her to be happy. Was willing to give up Conan and pretend to be Shinichi for her, just to make her happy.

"I could be Shinichi for you, if that's what you _wanted_, Ran-neechan." He continued, and the first of his tears slipped down one rounded cheek. Still a boy, still a child. Sometimes she forgot that, when he'd race around, so smart and intelligent, just like _him_. But this was not her best friend in front of her, just her adopted little brother who cared about her and who she'd reduced to tears.

How easy it would be for him to be Shinichi. They looked the same, they acted the same, but they _weren't_, she she had to keep reminding herself of that. He was just a little boy, just a little boy that'd she's frightened and questioned mercilessly, never once thinking about how _he _would feel if she was wrong. The only thing she had thought about was what she wouls would do if she was wrong. Didn't pause to think she might hurt some bright eyed child's feelings. What kind of neechan was she? So absorbed in herself that she didn't think for a second that other people might be hurting. That didn't sound like her. She was the person who put everyone else first; except this once.

"Oh, Conan-kun, baby, I'm so sorry." Ran said.

He cried silently against her shoulder, not allowing himself a sob or gasp even. Still acting strong, acting brave. But who was there to admire that bravery? Just Ran-neechan, only her. But she did admire it. Admired that he cold hold himself in for her sake. No child should have to do that. But he did, without one word of complaint.

"An-and if was Shinichi, you-you'd be happy. You'd be happy so it-it'd be okay." He said and she rocked back and forth on her heels, mumbling nonsense words into his hair.

"I could be him. I _could._ If...if that's what you w-want me to be." He hiccupped out.

"No, sweetheart, no, you couldn't. Because, if you were Shinichi, I still wouldn't be happy. I'd just spend all my time missing Conan-kun."


	12. Neechan

The doorbell sounded.

"Conan-kun, could you get that?" Ran called and the boy answered the door to find Shinichi standing there, a bouquet clutched in his hand and a nervous look on his face. Conan stared at him solemnly, his too serious little boy eyes looking at the teen rather blankly, not counting the small spark of contempt blue them.

"Hey, Conan-kun, right? Is Ran home?" Shinichi asked and the boy looked at him carefully before easing the door shut and turning the lock.

The doorbell chimed again.

"Conan-kun? Didn't you get that? Who is it?" Ran called.

"It's just a door-to-door salesperson! They won't go away! I'll ask again, Ran-neechan!" Conan called, opening the door again.

"That wasn't very nice, Conan-kun. Please, can you tell Ran I'm here?" Shinichi asked, trying hard to be patient with the boy.

"No." Conan answered blandly. "Go away. Go away and stay away! You're a jerk!"

He closed the door again. He turned the lock. A few seconds later, there was a soft knock on the door and he open it again.

"Okay, I see how it is. Name your price, kid. I just want to see Ran, okay? What will it take for you to let me in?" Shinichi said, glaring lightly at the boy.

"My price? I'm not someone who can be tricked by extortion of all things _Shinichi-niisan._" Conan said, letting just a small amount of his anger seep into his words. "I'm not letting you away. She's better off without you."

Conan moved to close the door and Shinichi caught it.

"Please?" the older boy said.

"Give me one good reason, just one really good reason to let you in." Conan said and Shinichi hung his head, shadows falling over his eyes.

"Like what? I miss her? She misses me? I love her? What reason do you want?" Shinichi said.

"If you missed her, you would've come home sooner. She does miss you, but she's okay, she's strong. And if you loved her, you would've told her sooner. I love her. She's _my _neechan and all you ever do is hurt her! Whenever she thinks about you, she gets sad. Whenever you call, she cries. And who do you think has to be there and listen to it and know that he can't help? Not you, me. Because I love her. She takes care of me and I love her, my Ran-neechan. If you loved her, you would've been there. And if you come back, then it'll all be about you and there won't be anytime for me! Because you mean everything and I'm just Conan-kun who has to try and pretend to be Shinichi for her because that's who she wishes I was!" Conan said, angry tears in his eyes but he wouldn't cry, not here, not now, not in front of him.

"Conan-kun, I know you love her. I love her to. She loves both of us, but it different ways and she never forgets anyone, she'll still be around for you even if I come home. Please, Conan-kun. She'll be happy if I'm back." Shinichi said, his voice soft as he dealt with the child in front of him. The child who was rightfully angry with him.

"No, no, she...My parents are never around. They always leave me with someone else who doesn't want me but...she wants me. She loves me. And she'll never try to get rid of me and she takes care of me. She cooks supper for me and-and you can't have her back! I want her, so you can't have her. Not yet." Conan said angrily until his voice dropped off into a whisper.

"Please." Shinichi tries one last time.

The boy wavers at the door. "No. Go away. Come back later if you want, but just go away now. Come back later and ring and ring and ring the doorbell and I won't answer it. If she wants to answer it, then she can answer it. I won't do it. But go away now. Just go away."

Then the boy backed up, closed the door, and locked it. From outside, there was no noise, no chimes for the doorbell or soft knocks on wood. After several moments, Conan imagined he heard footsteps walking away.

"Did they leave yet, Conan-kun?" Ran said, walking into the room, a towel wrapped around her shower-wet hair.

"Yes, Ran-neechan, they did. They'll probably be back later, can you get it then?" Conan said, his voice pitched just right to sound boyish and bored.

"Of course. They need to be taught to leave alone when someone tells them to! What did you want for dinner tonight, Conan-kun?" Ran asked and Conan pondered over it for a moment.

"Can we have curry rice?" he asked and she smiled.

"Sure, we already have everything for it anyways." Ran said and moved to walk towards the kitchen.

"Ran-neechan?" he said and she paused. "I love you."

She smiled and bent to kiss his forehead. "I love you too, Conan-kun."

She walked away then and he crawled onto the couch, leaning back and closing his eyes tightly. "I know."


	13. Band

Shinichi pushed through the crowds, trying in vain to make his way through the throng of people who'd shown up at the concert and were now trying to make sure he wouldn't make it back to his seat with the drinks. He honestly did not want to be there (the band was decidedly too _feminine_ for him) but Kuroba was friends with one of the three girls that were in the band and had gotten tickets. And, of course, he _insisted_ Shinichi come; everyone knows, when Kuroba insists on something, you're much better off just going along with it.

Shinichi passed a group of fangirls, who picked that moment to shriek. Loudly. Damn, he wasn't going to be able to hear for a _week!_ What was so great about this band anyways? Kitty Wiggle, what kind of name is that anyways? Better than MacDonald Duck Éclair, but still, what was with the stupid English names? Just random English words thrown together, without any purpose. Shinichi didn't understand.

Finally he made his way back to the seats and Kuroba grinned, grabbing one of the sodas he'd been carrying.

"Geez, what took you so long? It's nearly time to start!" Kaito said and Shinichi gave him a withering looking, sitting down in the uncomfortable metal chair while he still could. The way no way Kuroba would allow him to remain sitting during the concert, after all.

"Yeah, yeah. How long is this going to last, anyways?" Shinichi asked, hoping he'd say something along the lines of five minutes.

"Not too long, maybe three hours or so?" the other boy said and Shinichi groaned.

"Don't be such a spoil sport, Kudo! If Hattori was here, _he _would be excited!" Kaito exclaimed and Shinichi leveled his look-alike with a glare.

"Do I look like I have dark skin or an Osakan accent? No? I didn't think so. Which one's your girlfriend?" Shinichi asked.

"She is _not _my girlfriend! But Aoko's the one on the keyboards. She'll be of the left side of the stage." Kaito informed him and Shinichi grinned despite himself at the little blush on the other boy's cheeks. Kudo: 1 Kuroba: 0.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, don't get you panties in a bunch." Shinichi said.

"For your information, I only wear panties when crossdressing!" Kaito said haughtily.

"Oh really? Then what about that ti-."

"Shh, it's starting!" Kaito cut him off, standing up along with the rest of the crowd as the lights dimmed and smoke machines could be heard starting up behind the curtains as a ethereal fog drifted over the stage. Then the lights cut off completely and the audience gasped before they came back on. But now, three young women stood on the formerly empty stage.

"I taught them that." Kaito whispered to Shinichi before hauling the other boy to his feet. Shinichi sighed but did not try to sit again.

The girl on the left, Kaito's infamous Aoko, smiled prettily at the crowd from her keyboard and Shinichi could see why his friend was so infatuated with her. On the right was another girl whose hair was in a ponytail. She grinned at the crowd like a predator before prey and Shinichi opted to leave her alone when they went backstage later. Finally, front and center, was a girl who bore a strong resemblance to Aoko, though her hair was more tamed. She held a mike in one hand and looked about confidently. And, from some reason, Shinichi found his eyes drawn to her.

"Who's the girl in front?" Shinichi asked Kaito.

"Hmm? Oh, that's Ran-chan, Aoko's cousin. After Aoko's dad died, she went to live with Ran-chan and her dad, so she thinks of her almost like an older sister. She's very nice, but very shy too." Kaito said, tearing his eyes away from the keyboardist for a moment.

"How can she be a singer if she's shy?" Shinichi asked.

"She told me it was a secret and I didn't ask again." Kaito said.

"Hello everybody and welcome to Sakura Snap '09!" the singer, apparently named 'Ran-chan' yelled into the mike and the crowd roared.

"Are you ready for us? Are you?!" she screamed and the crowd roared back.

"I didn't hear you!" The roar increased.

"Well, if you're sure, then here we are. Kitty Wiggle!" she said and the music started up.

As the concert went on, Shinichi found himself getting more and more into the music with each song. They were_ good_. But, he resolved, he would never, _ever_, be coming to a concert again, especially with Kaito.

Finally, the concert was drawing itself to a close. "Okay, everyone, we have time for one last song? What's it going to be?"

"Run Away! Run Away!" the crowd screamed and the ponytailed guitarist grinned and said something inaudible to Ran, which made her blush heavily under the stage lights.

Despite this, the music started up for the aforementioned song, a heavy rock sound that differed greatly from their other songs. Even more shocking, it started off fast and hard, another difference.

'_Run, gotta runaway,_

_Run, gotta run I gotta run_

_Gotta get away_

_Gotta gotta run_

_I gotta run gotta get away_

_Gotta gotta getaway_

_Run gotta get _

_Run, run gotta get_

_Mmmm'_

Something about the song, the emotion of the singer, dug into Shinichi, burying itself there as the lyrics burned into his mind. And suddenly, he just knew. Like you know things and you don't know how. Like a premonition that's already occurred.

He was now very glad that it was the keyboardist Kuroba was interested in.


	14. I Have

Have you ever had the feeling that you're all alone?

That no one is waiting for you?

I have.

Have you ever wondered why you allow things to go on like they do?

Why you just let him take and take and not give anything in return?

I have.

Have you ever considered telling him?

Have you ever tried to say something and failed?

I have.

Have you ever hurt so deep down inside that you know what's been done is unfixable?

That even holding your stomach and hoping to stay together fails?

I have.

Have you ever had to hear someone's good news and felt like it was bad news?

And have to smiled and congratulate them like it doesn't tear you to pieces?

I have.

Have you ever cried into your pillow at night hoping someone would notice and ask you what's wrong?

Have you been disappointed when no one does?

I have.

Have you ever had to let someone you love walk away?

And it hurts and hurts but you smile and wave and they do too?

I have.

I have.

I have.


	15. Vacation

Conan was just walking down the street one day when he was approached by a strange, Middle Eastern looking man.

"Hello, little boy! Can you help me? I need directions to 21/2 Beika Street, if you don't mind." The man said in perfect Japanese and Conan looked at him suspiciously.

"Isn't that Kudo Shinichi's house?" Conan asked, knowing the answer.

"Yes, it is as a matter of fact! I have a case for him. Would you mind showing me the way?" the man said, smiling happily without a care in the world.

"I know Shinichi-niichan. He's not home right now, actually, he's on a case. You could bring your case to Mouri Kogoro, I'm living at his house right now." Conan said, cursing as his wariness leaked into his voice.

"No, that's quite alright, I'm in no hurry, I can wait for Kudo-kun. It's an extremely difficult case! But, if you like, I can tell you the details if you'll walk me there and you can tell them to Mouri-san. If he solves it, I'll be sure to pay him handsomely." The man offered.

Conan raised aneyebrow, but smiled childishly at the older man. "Okay! My name's Edogawa Conan, what's yours?"

The man smiled and followed after Conan as he began walking. "Oh, my name? It's Devaduta, but most folks call me David. As for my surname, well, it'd be mighty hard for you to pronounce, boy."

"Can you tell me anyways?" Conan asked, wondering about the man's intentions frantically.

"If you insist! It's KAladUata." The man said, pronouncing the word in strange accent.

"Okay then, about that case...?" Conan lead and the man suddenly grinned broadly as Conan lead them down an alley as a shortcut.

"Right, that. Well, you see, the thing is...." David spun around quickly, grabbing the boy and pressing on a certain part of his neck until he went limp. "There isn't one."

---

Conan awoke later, his head fuzzy, but otherwise, feeling fine.

"Urggg." He moaned.

"Oh, good! You're awake!" said a happy sounding voice from the other side of the room.

Conan looked over and saw the man from before sitting on his desk. Conan did a double take then and found he was in his bed. Or, more accurately, Kudo Shinichi's bed. The next thing he notied was the man had changed clothes, from the average jeans and T-shirt to an outfit consisting of a loose fitting white shirt and equally loose white pants that clashed against the man's dark skin.

"Don't bother with the watch or the shoes or anything; they won't exactly work on me so well. See, the reason I had to go and abduct you like that was because the two of us need to have a little chat, Shinichi-kun." Devaduta said, still smiling disarmingly.

"W-what?!" Conan stammered upon hearing his real name.

"Relax, Shinichi-kun, if you have heart attack on my account I'll be out of a job for sure!" the man said, hold up his arms placatingly. "I just want to talk, okay? I'm not one of Them and I'm on the other side of the room from you and I haven't removed any of your clothing except for your shoes, which are right by the bed. No tricks, just a little conversation."

Conan sat up and got out of bed, putting on his shoes afterwards and ignoring the itch in his brain that told him it wasn't proper to wear shoes inside the house. "Okay then, talk."

"I knew you'd see reason, Shinichi-kun!" the man said, his eyes crinkling as he smiled. "Now, I'm going to go ahead and say, what I'm about to say will probably cause you to question my sanity, but keep in mind that impossible hasn't really applied to you since that night at Tropical Land, okay?"

"Just get on with it." Conan growled out and lined up the hairs on his watch, despite the fact that the other man had claimed it was a worthless effort.

"Okay then! You see, Shinichi-kun, I am your guardian angel and I need a vacation." Devaduta stated plainly and Conan eyes widened. "The truth of the matter is, you are absolutely exhausting to look after. If it's not chasing murderers, it's escaping exploding buildings. If it's not that, it's dangling off of balconies, if it not that, it's trying to use those thrice cursed antidotes! Do you even know how bad for you those things are? I had to manually stick my hand in your chest and pump your heart for you to keep it beating! Not fun, Shinichi-kun, not fun at all!"

"Guardian Angel? Really?" Conan deadpanned skeptically.

"Right, right, here comes the part where I have to prove it, I know the drill." Devaduta said, jumping off the desk in an easy motion. "Name your price. Lightning? A sudden transformation back to your old self, that one won't last longer than a couple of seconds, by the way, a appropriately timed phone call? A premonition of the future? Come on, I don't have all day!"

"Am I allowed to ask or anything useful?" Conan asked, still not believing it in the slightest.

"Good question, I'll check the list!" Devaduta said, and a list appeared in his hands out of thin air. Conan blinked, but opted not to comment.

"The only interesting things I see on here that you might want are a list of the ingredients for that poison of yours, no quantities, just the ingredients, and Kaitou Kid's home telephone number. His mom would probably answer though." The angel said after a moment and Conan eyes brightened.

"How do I know that they're real?" Conan asked.

"I can let you test the phone number, but, as for the list, you are on your own. Ai-kun's pretty close anyways; I'd take the number, personally." Devaduta said and Conan nodded. A piece of paper appeared out of thin air and floated over to Conan, who punched the numbers in on his phone gleefully.

"Ask for Kaito-kun!" Devaduta whispered with a grin as the phone rang and Conan nodded, filing the information away.

"Moshi moshi?" a woman said, answering the phone.

"Hello, obasan, may I speak to Kaito-kun, please?" Conan said, laying on the charm.

"Of course. _**Kaito! Phone!**_" the woman yelled.

"Got it!" a male voice called back and a click was heard as he picked up the receiver.

"Moshi moshi?" the boy said into the phone.

"Your mom seems like a very nice lady, Kid." Conan said conversationally.

"_Tantei-kun!??!"_ Kaito gasped out and Conan hurriedly hung up the phone, laughing hysterically along with the guardian angel next to him.

"Ah, I'm going to get it from Agharna, but it was so worth it!" Devaduta exclaimed before straightening up. "Now, about that vacation. Just stay home for a couple of days, kid, prank call Kaito-kun a dozen times, whatever you have to do! Just don't leave the house or put yourself in danger, okay? They'll fire me for sure! Do we have a deal?"

"Sure, I guess. I'll pretend to be sick or something. Or maybe I'll say I'm visiting my parents and hang out at Agasa's for a couple of days. Is that good?" Conan asked.

"Perfect, as long as you don't let her Royal Blonde Creepiness experiment on you."

"I won't. That's not a nice name."

"I know." He grinned. "So it's a deal?" he held out his hand and Conan shook it.

"Yeah, it's a deal."


	16. Dance

The beat itself was mind numbing and she danced through the cloud like a ghost, her partners recalling her as a whisper and a sigh before she was gone again, a drunken laugh on her thin lips. Or at least they assumed it was drunken laugh. Better than a pained one, better than one of simple wistfulness. But, in truth, it was neither of these. She couldn't recall exactly who she was, why she came here year after year on this day to dance with every single unaccompanied male and even a few females. She would remember come morning, but right now she was drunk on the atmosphere, the intoxicating beat of the music around her, and the familiar press of bodies against her. In a crowd, yet again, where she felt like a part of something for a moment when they all moved together as one being.

She swirled and swirled, as light on her feet as a child as she danced around the room. Her laugh rang like a bell, enchanting those around her easily. She spun in circles again and again, her slender frame vibrating with the exertion, but she didn't stop dancing for even a moment as she drifted through the crowd like a smoky dream.

He watched her with shallow eyes, marveling at her childish nature among these adults. Marveling at the fact that she could still laugh after all he had done to her over the years. The bartender approached him, smiling a knowing smile.

"That there is Aoko-kun." He said, an Osakan drawl on his lips.

"Hmm?" the man said, leaving his voice pitched to curiosity.

"Don't bother going after her. She'll dance with you, but that's as much as she'll do. She's waiting for someone." The bartender said.

"She is? It's awful late to be waiting." It was almost 2 in the morning by now, but that wasn't what he meant. But this old man didn't need to know that.

"She comes here on this day every year and stays coherent until she hits the dance floor. From then on out, she's like a child. She waits here until closing time for someone to show up, but whoever it is she's waiting for, he never comes. She's sweet girl though. You're better off giving up, son. There's other fish in the sea, ones who don't wait around a hole in the wall night club for 5 years for one guy who obviously doesn't love her enough to come find her." The bartender said.

"I think..." the man trailed off, his blues eyes following the still twirling girl on the dance floor. "I think I'll take my chances. Thanks for the advice though."

"Be careful with her, boy! She may look invincible, but she's brittle as glass. You break her and you'll pay the price!" the old man yelled after him and he raised his hand in acknowledgement as he walked out onto the dance floor.

He made his way to the girl and stole her away as she passed in between partners. She smiled blissfully, her eyes closed as she danced away her worries.

"You shouldn't dance with strangers, Aoko." He said, barely a whisper but her eyes flew open regardlessly.

"K-." she started before screaming as long as she could and tackling him to the floor. _**"Kaito!"**_

The music screeched to a halt and all eyes turned to the small nightclub's favorite customer. She had been assaulted before and they all knew what to do.

But she wasn't in any danger this time. "Kaito, Kaito..." she murmured over and over again, as she planted kisses all over his face.

Kaito looked considerably more cheerful, on the floor with the girl on top of him. He turned to the old bartender with mirth in his eyes. "Oi, what happens if she breaks me?"


	17. Aftermath

In the aftermath of the battle, there are no casualties. But death might've been kinder.

He lays there like a child, with a body he will never use again. This is his price and this was his war.

She kneels beside him and coughs blood on to his shirt, knowing she'll spend the rest of her life taking care of him now. This is her price but this was not her war.

He sits on the ground, his dark skin covered in sweat and unable to stand on his own shattered kneecaps, his katana lies across his lap and he's shocked to find it covered in blood. He'd taken lives today. This is his price for the war he forced his way into.

She sits beside him, talking quickly through her fear about an ambulance and five more minutes and _-you better not die on me, you ahou!-_ and pants, her breath still harsh and her heartbeat still fast, though the battle's been over for nearly half an hour by now. She'd been slipped some kind of poison while here and she knows all of her jumping around didn't help matters. This is her price but this never could've been her war.

She sits across from them, holding her bleeding side and murmuring sweet nothings of assurances to the children huddled there next to her on the ground. They shiver and whimper and she doesn't stop speaking to them for even a second. She tells them stories and truths and lies and prays she doesn't die and -_they've seen enough, damn it-_ and the girl of few words speaks more that day than anyone else. This is her price and this was always, always her war.

She sits there like a good girl, like her mother always told her she was, and stays quiet and out of the way, even as the police men and ambulance workers finally show up. She doesn't cry in relief at seeing them but, instead, shrinks away from them as they try to reach out to her and check her bumps and scraps and that one crease on her arm and _-it hurts, it hurts, make it stop!-_ she doesn't want them to touch her or her friends. Adults are the enemy now, no matter who they are because adults who look nice could be anyone and she was forced to learn that today. All she could do was listen to her friend's soft voice as she told them fairy tales with happily ever afters and hope for a better world. This was her price and children weren't meant for war.

He sits close to his friends and doesn't let them move their reassuring weight from his side. They don't try either, because he's big, the biggest, and they like how solid he feels, even though his shirt is sticky with blood and even though his stomach moves up and down and forces them to move as well. He likes the feel of them there, leaning on him, breathing, because they're all alive and they made it. He feels small amounts of victory in that, as he too listens to that little girl voice that is telling lies abut everything being okay. But they are nice lies and he would like so much to believe them. So he does. This is his price and children still weren't meant for war.

He leans against his friend heavily, even as he winces at the movements of the bigger boy's chest. They aggravate his leg, which he thinks is broken but he keeps his face strong and doesn't cry out and _-don't think about it, don't think about it- _ and he forces his eyes across the room. The ambulance workers carry away a body that he can only remember being his size and he shivers at the way he is limp on the stretcher, even though his eyes are open and they look at him knowingly and tiredly. He never knew that body to be limp when awake and he thinks to himself that the teenager broke something worse than a leg. His longtime crush is still speaking, telling them things that they don't want to hear, but he listens anyways because maybe he already knows, deep down, that the world was never such a nice place. This is his price and the truth of the matter remains that children were never, ever meant for war.

He sits still as the ambulance workers worry over him and keeps his eyes on his daughter. His heart aches for her. This is his price and he only wishes it could've been his war.

He cowers in the darkness, knowing the light means discovery but also knowing that he'll die in this place if they don't find him. And they will find him eventually, he knows, but it might be too late by then. He glances around and sighs before groaning loudly to attract someone's attention. The white tuxedo _-red now, damn it all, it's a damn red tuxedo- _throws them off for a moment but it's their job to help without question and they're good at it. He smiles at them, and it's not his normal smile, before passing out blissfully. This is his price and it's been his war for a long time now.

She sleeps the sleep of the knocked out, hidden there with him once he realized she had managed to follow him here and she is the luckiest of them all, for she saw nothing, heard nothing, and will remember nothing but pink gas in face as she fell. This is her price and she didn't even know there was a war.

She is not dead yet and she knows they won't allow her to die, but she only wishes the boss had lived, because she will take the blame without him and she curses him for it. She is bleeding from more places than she can remember having and they take her away in an ambulance, same as everyone else. But the man who rides with her dangles his handcuffs from one finger and tells her that she has a lot to answer for. This is her price and she fervently wishes it weren't her war after all.

**Hmm, yeah, I still don't have an explanation for this one. My external hard rive has been kidnapped by my older brother, so please, if you're one of the one's waiting on that next chapter of Velocity, be patient while I try to steal it back. In other news, I have a summer fandom!!! It's called Soul Eater and it's awesome. Check it out if you have the time, great show, really. **


	18. Asylum

"I hate you."

"I know."

"That used to make you angry."

"I know."

"What will it take to get a reaction now?"

"Who cares? Why are you still talking?"

"**I **care. And because one of us has to. You aren't going to, right?"

"Right. Why do you have to keep talking?"

"Wasn't it your plan?"

"I don't remember, it's been too long. Why are you still talking?"

"You already asked that. It's only been a couple of years, anyways. Who would've thought they'd break you so easily?"

"Says you. You get to leave occasionally. She likes you more."

"And what if she does? Maybe because I didn't break."

"I wouldn't have broken if I had been allowed to leave too."

"Is that the truth? I thought you wanted to go."

"It's easier, I guess. But I miss having emotions."

"Missing something is an emotion."

"Not really. Why are you still talking?"

"You already asked that."

"Really? Answer then."

"Because you told me we'd go insane if we both stayed silent."

"Aren't we already?"

"Maybe. The world is so gray here."

"Your eyes aren't gray."

"Yet. Neither are yours."

"Yet."

"Of course."

"It's been a long time."

"I miss green."

"Which one was that again?"

"The trees and grass."

"Ah, I remember."

"What about you?"

"Hmm, probably red. That was your favorite color, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was yours too."

"No, mine was blue. I lied because your favorite was red. You wanted it to be red, didn't you?"

"Yes. So it was blue then?"

"Yes, blue. Like your eyes, without the gray."

"It's been a long time."

"No ones coming back, are they? They got caught or something and haven't told them we're still here."

"That sounds right. Ah, here that noise?"

"Sounds like construction eqiuptment. They're knocking down the building then."

"Of course."

"With us still inside."

"Of course."

"Weren't you supposed to be the one still talking?"

"I guess you went sane again. Too bad this is probably the end. You remember what floor we're on?"

"Not the number. But we're near the top."

"So upper middle?"

"If we survive the fall, we'll be crushed by the other levels."

"Death is okay, I guess. You'll commit sucide if you survive, right?"

"Sure, you?"

"Obviously. The building is shaking now. It started then?"

"Yeah. See you later, I suppose. Any last words?"

"Hmm, no, not really. But, to be cliché, I think I'd like my last word your name."

"Ah, that's a good idea, me too."

"On three then, you count."

"One, two, three!"

"Shinichi."

"Ran."

**I write such weird crap lately. Enjoy!**


	19. Shatter

Even the strongest of them were fragile in their own way.

He could never be selfish and neither could she and it left them at an impasse far too often. And when he blamed her because he couldn't stand to blame himself, she took it like she could, told she was sorry without meaning the words and he accepted that lie, that false apology, without compliant because he knew he was the one who was wrong.

They were night and day, cop and robber, and, while six days of the week, it worked for them, that seventh day was always the hardest. They were like the ocean and the moon, directly influencing each other but never touching. They were even more similar to the ocean and its banks, push and pull, the waves did, give and take and that's the only way it could be. And, on that seventh day, they argued like they were truly angry and he slept on the couch.

They were two strong willed people trying to live together and compromise when neither one of them wanted to give. And he yelled at her too often and she physically fought him a couple of times, though he never raised a hand in return. Later, she would look at the bruises she'd left on him and curl against his chest and cry and wonder why it was so hard to be in love. He'd wrap an arm around her thin shoulders and hum songs they'd sang as children and the rumble in his chest put her to sleep every time. And, while she lay there, asleep and free from her own grieve, he'd wonder why she hadn't figured out that he yelled at her because he was worried and she wouldn't let him protect her when that's all he really wanted out of life.

And any one of them could be broken so easily, if the world were allowed to see them like this, could be ripped apart into little pieces and left there, broken and hurting on the sidewalk while the ones who'd left them there to be found scurried around, picking up the pieces and knowing they should've kept them close instead of showing them to the world in such a way that they might be shattered like the glass hearts they were.

**Such weird stuff, ne? Oh, and in case it's hard to follow, in order, the couples are Shinichi/Ran, Kaito/Aoko, Heiji/Kazuha. I didn't mean for the HK one to be longer, but you guys know me, I'm completely helpless when it comes to them. Actually this was written to explain why I can't force myself to write and post the werewolf!Heiji story that's been floating around in my head for half the year. They're much too fragile, you see? Much, much, I couldn't stand posting them, it would kill me.**


	20. Of Writers and Betas

**Inspired by s2lou-chan's most recent post and the thought "What if they were like us?" **

"If I write a story, would you read it?" Ayumi asks one day, al smiles and innocence and he looks at her in confusion but smiles nonetheless.

"Of course."

--

_Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess. She was different from other princesses because she was not locked in a tower of any sort and she was not in a any sort of magical sleep and her parents were both her real parents and they both loved her very very much. But she had a problem. She had no knight in shining armor to be her husband. All she had was a prince who she didn't know much about._

"_What's your favorite color?" she asked._

"_Red." He answered with the strangest of smiles and she felt she missed some sort of joke as he walked away._

"_Where do you come from?" she asked._

"_Far away." he answered and his mouth turned down into a dark frown._

"_Do you love me?" she asked._

"_In a way, you could say." He answered and the look on his face broke her heart._

_She watched the prince day in and day out and only became more confused. The only other person he played with was one of her ladies in waiting, a blonde girl who was quiet but kind, and the princess thought that he might like this girl instead of her. But she watched more and saw that he was almost always with another, older princess who was already promised to someone else and thought he might even like this princess instead of her._

_In the end, all the princess could figure out was that, no matter who he liked, it wasn't her and she was sad. But then her knight in shining armor finally showed up and they rode off into the sunset together._

_And they all lived Happily Ever After._

--

Conan felt guilty for a long time afterwards and found himself asking the kami if only they would make sure that her knight really did show up, if he didn't, Conan wouldn't be able to live with himself.

--

"Hey, Conan, if I wrote a story, would you read it?" Ran asked one day as she cooked supper to the music of her father's drunken laughter in the next room over.

"Of course, Ran-neechan." He answered and felt he knew where this was going.

--

_High upon a hill_

_Wear the grass floats in the sky_

_Sat the strangest rock you would ever see_

_Blue and black and brown and red all swirled together_

_It was said, when the world was created_

_The moon and the ocean were lovers_

_But they'd become separated_

_And at night, under the watchful eye of the lover she couldn't touch_

_The ocean washed up on to the hill and dyed the rock with the colors of her tears_

_So that the other spirits could see her sadness_

_The other spirits couldn't help them_

_But they all got together and made it so that the moon pushed and pulled the ocean_

_So that they would still need each other_

_Even though they were so far apart_

--

"So, how was it, Conan-kun?" Ran asked anxiously, wringing her hands as the boy read it.

He smiled brightly at her. "It was great, Ran-neechan! How did you write this?"

"Oh, it just came to me. I'm glad you liked it!"

Conan just retreated to his room and cried quietly until his eyes ran dry.

--

"Here." Ai said, shoving a paper in his hands.

"Wha-." He started, fumbling to keep his hold on the paper lest it flutter to the ground and force him to pick it up.

"I don't write stories." She said and walked away.

--

_Green leaves far from home_

_Fell from branches too early_

_Trod by dirty feet_

--

Conan banged his head against his desk and told himself that if anyone approached him with a sheet of paper he would tear it into tiny pieces and not feel remorse.

**Haikus are hard too write! Review please!**


	21. Layers

"Kid." Shinichi said from his position in the doorway to the room.

"Kudo." The thief acknowledged with a smile _(a weak smile, dammit)_.

Shinichi paused, looking at the young man in the hospital bed with critical eye before walking further into the room and seating himself in a previously vacated chair _(__**she **__had been the one sitting there, but not anymore)_. "'Are you homicidal or just stupid?' Question of the day, apparently. I saw it on a newspaper headline coming in. I'd like an answer, if you don't mind."

Kid laughed at the detective's calm and strangely nonchalant tone of voice. "Neither, despite what my best friend says."

"Best friend? Who is she?" _(why did he say she? what did he know?) _

"Nakamori-keibu's daughter, ironic, right?" Kid answered and Shinichi saw something flash in the thief's eyes. _(regret)_

"Just tell me, Kid, see as I won't have anymore chances to find out on my own, why? Not the whole reason, you're entitled to your privacy, but this one time, why? Because I can't think of anything stupider-." Shinichi started and Kid cut him off.

"I can. Like letting those bastards who started all this go unpunished. That would be stupider." Kid said and Shinichi heard some undertone to his voice. _(hard as steel, was it revenge? or justice?)_

"Brain cancer is serious, Kid, you aren't going to survive. We're alike in many ways, you and I, let me help instead of hinder for once." Shinichi said, his tone serious now and Kid saw something in the detective he hadn't seen there last time he'd been this size. _(conviction, he'd go anywhere, do anything. a friend is an enemy and vise versa.) _

"The bastards killed my father. And, even if it kills me, I swore to see them brought to justice." Kid said and Shinichi forced himself not to look surprised. _(under the façade was a reason, under the reason was a little boy who still called out in the night for his father who still wasn't coming home.)_

"Tell me everything you know. And even if you're gone before it happens, I will give them what they deserve. No one will laugh over your grave." Shinichi said in a grim voice.

Kid decided to lighten things up a little, so much seriousness would surely kill him. _(pun intended, as always, but he didn't want anyone to remember his face in a frown.) _"Oi, Kudo, I thought people who visited were suppose to be positive. You know 'They'll find a cure.' 'You can do it!' That sort of thing? Come on, don't be so depressing!"

Kudo looked him dead in the eye with his most serious face. _(underneath it was a smile.) _"You are going to die. You are going to die soon. You have no hope." _(a layer peeled away, a smile on an identical face.) _"But damn if you didn't have one hell of a life!"

"Isn't that true? Not many can say they've been to the top of Tokyo Tower on the outside, right? Or that they've juggled ten people's life savings while scaling a building." Kid said, thinking fondly back on his memories. _(not those memories, memories of a blue eyed girl with a mop and a blush. fond, fond memories.)_

"How true. But let's get down to business. I'll be kicked out of here soon enough and they might not let me back in next time." Shinichi said and, to Kid's amusement, pulled out a notepad and pen.

"And I wasted all that time teasing Hakuba. You're just as bad, Kudo, and much more fun as a target." He said grinning. _(but Hakuba was convenient and teasing Kudo would've probably gotten him caught.)_

"Do **not **compare me to him. He doesn't know how lucky he is that I was with Hattori on that island, if it hadn't been for me, that would've been his coffin." Shinichi said, glowering and Kid wondered at the story behind that. It was common knowledge that the Osakan detective disliked Hakuba, _(an understatement; Hattori despised Hakuba because of his detachment from the murders he solved. If there was even a chance someone's life could be saved, then it didn't matter what evidence was destroyed in the process.)_ but no one besides the two of them, and Kudo, it seems, knew exactly why.

"If they do allow you back in, you are going to have to tell me the story behind that. When you get Hattori-tantei talking about Hakuba, he gets nearly as creative as Nakamori-keibu, if you know what I mean." Kid said and Shinichi grinned.

"Sure thing."

"Okay then, it probably started a long time ago, before I was born, but when it started for me was less than a year ago, when I stumbled upon my father's secret room..."

**I've had this idea forever! Originally, it was going to be much longer and with lots more tragedy, but I don't really have the patience for it, so you get this instead. If anyone wants the idea though, it's up for adoption! (All of these are actually up for adoption unless I say otherwise. Ask and you will most likely receive. Why, I might even let someone have the "My New Friend" idea, if they ask me **_**really **_**nicely. Speaking of that one, I have something in the works for it, beg if you want it to get done!)**

**Anyways, as always, please review! I'm lonely! (My brother's playing Xbox and wont speak to me because his Xbox friends might hear him.)**


	22. Ama: Sectors

**For s2lou-chan. Sorry about the lameness, I'll try to do better next time! :)**

**

* * *

**

"Answer me something, Aoko." Kaito said as they lay in the orange grass, counting the rings around the neighboring planet, Lacuna.

"Ask away." Aoko said her fingers tracing the constellations her mother had taught her many years ago.

"Is it always so warm here, on Ama? It's hardly any colder here at night than when the sun is out." Kaito said, gesturing to the night around them with a hand.

"_Ama is warmth and comfort. Soil like cotton and breezes like spring. A perfect world_." Aoko recited, just like she had when she was younger, living in the houses of Sector 8 and commuting to Sector 6 for schooling every day.

Kaito snorted. "Well, that was helpful."

She scowled. "The technical reason is that the planet is small and our sun is large. During the day, the entire planet heats up and the darkness does little to cool it off. We have a slow rotation, so our days and nights are about the same length as Earth ones but you could walk to the day time on the other side before night fell over there, if you really wished to. We live in Sector 4, so in Sectors 8 and 6, it's daytime and the children are in school."

Kaito nodded. "Much better. That reminds me, about these "Sectors", what, exactly, is going on with that, if you don't mind?"

Aoko thought about it for a moment. "Well, what is it you want to know about them?"

Kaito grinned. "Just start talking about them, I'll ask questions as we go, if that's good with you."

"Okay. The planet, so far, has been divided into 8 sectors. Only the Western hemisphere is populated so far, the rest is being saved for future generations and just for environmental reasons. Each of the 8 sectors has a primary purpose or function and has its own class of people who live there. Not hierarchal, like Earth, but divided by age. Sector 1 is in the middle of Ama and is where the High Council that governors Ama stays. It's also where Opinion Day is held every year, but you aren't allowed to give opinions because you're a refugee. Sorry about that."

Kaito waved her off. "It's fine. If something's seriously wrong, I might consider asking someone else to bring it up, but I'm content to stay on the sidelines if it means I get to live."

Aoko nodded. "Right. Sector 2 is a farming sector, where vegetables are grown and live stock is raised. Only adults live there, and any children that they decided to keep. Though commuting to Sector 6 everyday all the way from Sector 2 must be a hassle. Sector 3 is a mainly fishing and trading sector, since they're on the water. They mostly fish though. Sector 4 is where we are, the teenaged housing. We're inspired to discover our passions and generally do as we will while we are still able. Sex is encouraged among the houses, which are set up according to age. We're all seventeen, so we all live in the same house, girls on one side, boys on the other and rooms in between for other things. People the opposite sex isn't allowed inside the sleeping areas though."

Kaito interrupted her here. "Why not? If they're all doing it anyways?"

Aoko tried to find a way to explain it to him. "We all share our space where we sleep. Our rooms are never barred to us, we're allowed to be in there anytime we want. If things were being done in there also, then we might not want to enter, which is the same as being psychologically restricted from going into our space. That, and it would be difficult to sleep in there. Everything has a designated place. That way, order is kept."

Kaito nodded his understanding. "I see. Go on then. What about Sector 5?"

Aoko smiled. "Sector 5 is trading and fishing again, but mostly trading. There's a web of small ponds right next to the oceans and the stores are set up on them so you must have a boat to get to the shops in the middle of the waters. That way, if anyone were to try to take something, there's not quick way to escape with it and they are apprehended easily and brought to the High Council for judgment. I'll warn you now, for any crime, there are only three verdicts that may be reached. You may get pardoned, banished to Earth, or executed. There are no alternatives. Only the truly desperate steal on Ama, crime is low, unlike Earth."

"Those sure are some harsh punishments, aren't they?" Kaito said, whistling low.

"But they are the rules. Where was I, Sector 6, right?" At Kaito's nod, she continued. "Sector 6 is the schooling sector. Children commute there to learn for the time they are able to speak coherently and walk to the time they hit puberty. Adults also come back for furthering schooling at the institutions if they want to. Sector 7 is the baby sector. Lots of babies are born to teenagers who aren't ready to stop having fun. And sometimes, parents just believe their baby would be better off. So babies whose parents want them to go are sent to Sector 7, where they are all taken care of. Most women end up working in Sector 7 or 8, though they are always free to choose where they want to work. A good percent work as teachers in Sector 6. Sector 8 is where the children that go to school in Sector 6 live, their houses are just like ours, minus the pleasure quarters. Of course, like I said, if parents want their kids to stay with them, they can.... Anything else?" Aoko asked having run out of things to say.

"Not really, maybe another time. I have some questions about the High Council, but they can wait I guess. Just one last thing." Kaito said, a mischievous glint to his eyes.

"What is it?" Aoko asked, leaning forward in anticipation and Kaito noticed that the flimsy material of her dress didn't hide much.

"If you promise not to breathe a word to anyone.....Would you like to hear about Earth?" Kaito whispered, as if someone was watching them, even heough the area they lay in was bare and open.

Aoko gasped, looking at him as he waited. The most forbidden fruit of all. But....."I promise. Tell me, Kaito."


	23. The Glass Detective

After the end, they called him the Glass Detective.

Without his masks, what was left of him was fragile and sharp.

He broke into pieces and cut those around him as he did.

They called him the Glass Detective.

So easy to break.

And so dangerous to be close to.

* * *

**Hi everyone! I'm back from vacation, so you may all return to worshiping me. Joking, joking, but seriously, I'm back. Probably still going to be a bit slow though, I've got a passing obsession with Transformers. If anyone out there has read the comics and would like to educate me, please, feel free to drop me a line! I'm on AIM and YahooMessenger!**


	24. Days Past

**Because I'm not sure how coherent this is going to come out after I'm done, I'll say it here. This is the very distant (or not so distant) future. And Shinichi's a ghost.**

His feet crunched in the gravel of his old high school and he sighed wistfully as he looked up at the desecrated structure before going inside. Down the hallway, to the left, up a flight of stairs and he was there. He entered the classroom and looked on in remorse.

The room wasn't really a room anymore and he could see the orange sky through the top. The desks weren't really standing either, most of them had been reduced to splinters a decade or so ago. The chalkboard was cracked and the floor was squishy. All in all, any sane person wouldn't enter. He did so anyways, his faintly glowing sneakers sinking into the molding linoleum as he moved to where his desks had once been and stared across the isle to where hers had been. He retrieved a splinter of wood from what he assumed was once her desk and slipped it into his pocket.

He sighed and exited the building as he had come.

He walked to her old home yet, the crumbling remains not passable even for him. He did not attempt it, there was nothing of her left her after so long but still he persisted. One glowing hand, fingers long and graceful, though covered in dirt and long dried blood, reached out and picked up a piece of the rubble, tucking it into his pocket as well and he moved on.

He drifted along to his own house next, prying a rusted spoke on the top of the gate off and sticking it into his pocket and then took a piece of the foundation from Agasa's house before continuing on once again. As he walked this time, he whistled tunelessly in the direction of the houses and did not look at them. Old habits died hard, but he could successfully say he died harder.

A quick stop by Tropical Land left him with a shard of glass from the Mystery Coaster and a fragment of a ceiling tile from the Arcade.

_This world was no place for the living_, he mused as he gathered rubble from Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko's houses, but _the dead don't fair so well here either._

_Is this all that's left? This burned out shell of times when we were happy. Or could there ever be anything more? It doesn't matter now. We lost the war and paid with what was left. Our flesh and blood, our hopes and dreams. Our future. And now only the past can exist in such a world as this._

He wandered by Sonoko's mansion, taking a charred and rotting piece of siding as he drifted by.

He moved on to Osaka, taking pieces from both Heiji and Kazuha's houses. As an after thought, he took a piece of the apartment complex they'd lived in together for the scant few months they'd been married. He'd been happy for them, before the bombs dropped.

Then it was back to Tokyo and from there, to Ekoda. Phantom Thieves can't hide from phantoms and he took an old gismo from the once secret place in the kaitou's home. A stop by Nakamori's house produced a relatively intact engagement ring after some searching. He smiled, pleased at the find as he pushed both things into pockets that were never full.

He took a burnt piece of what he assumed was the refrigerator from the flat Sato and Takagi had shared after there marriage. He took a shard of glass from Megure's house. He took a blood stained piece of cardboard from Eri's old home.

Only concrete could be saved from Eisuke's old home and searching through Jodie's shell of an apartment produced a melted tube of lipstick. Grudgingly, he took a piece of what might've once been the gutter's from Araide's house.

Finally, with all his pieces gathered, he went to the crumbling remains of the cemetery. He walked to her grave and knelt, using his fingers to scrub her name clean for the thousandth time. _Mouri Ran_. Carefully, he laid his spoils out in front of the marker.

"Everyone I could think of. I probably missed someone." He said to the tombstone, his voice crackling like the dried leaves he stepped on as a child. "It's been a long time, Ran. You're coming back soon, aren't you? You won't let them leave me here much longer? I'm ready to leave, Ran, there's no one left. Just me and what's left of what we once were."

_Truly, only the past could exist here._

**So, I continue to make absolutely no sense! Not surprising. Hey, any of you guys want to talk about Transformers with me? I've become obsessed with the movie. ^^**


	25. Pennies

Ai sat on a bench in the rain, waiting for the bus and waiting for the sun. In her hands were ten pennies and she counted them religiously. To remind herself how good she'd been. To remind herself that she hadn't hurt anyone yet.

"Hey girl." A voice said and she turned at the sound, her tiny body tensing up as the man approached her, dressed in a black business suit. "You coming yet?"

She didn't answer, picking up her tattered backpack and getting ready to run.

"Aren't you tired of running yet, girl?" he said, his voice sounding disapproving.

"Never." She said and he grinned.

"No one is around this time, Sherry."

"Heartless bastard." She hissed.

"We aren't going to hurt you, come with us and we'll give you everything you want." He offered and sounded like he meant it too. He did, really.

"I'd rather have nothing." She said and scooted to the end of the bench, her toes touching the ground.

"We'd love you like your parents never did. We'd be your family." He said and she imagined it for a moment, herself, dressed in black and Akemi kissing her cheek and promising her forever. But all that world offered was this empty lie.

"Fuck off."

"Such foul language for a girl your age. The streets have really hurt you, haven't they? We don't care, of course, we'd still love you." He said and she told herself that he lied, lied, lied and she wouldn't be tricked again, not again, never again.

"Leave me alone!" she said as she sucked in a foul breath of city air, dampen by the rain and it left her lips moist.

"I've been told not to take no for an answer this time. Please, I really don't want to force you." He said and he looked so damn honest. She selected a penny from her hand, shiny and new, and hurled it at him, fast as a bullet and just as deadly. It grazed his side and he doubled over in pain. She took off then, but then a trail of burning pain encompassed her leg and she fund he'd grazed her leg with his own bullet, fired from a gun, this time.

"Hey!" a voice shouted and she looked over to see a teenager running towards them through the rain. He assailant his and ran, holding his side the entire time. "Little girl, are you okay?"

Ai smiled wearily as his hands found her, warm against her fridge skin and the fingers were gentle, so different from what she had become accustomed to. Ignoring his frantic voice, she let unconsciousness claim her in all its mercy.

* * *

**Let's be honest, I've done worse and you all know it! Mwhahahahaha! Getting my Driver's License tomorrow (hopefully)! Wish me luck, everyone?**


	26. Friendship

She walked in the door without knocking, tears on her face and that look in her eye that said everything he needed to know.

"Again?" he asked and she nodded, walking into his embrace and curling up against him, a shaking child in need of comfort.

"Kazuha?" he said and she shook.

"I thought it was working out." She managed in a shaking voice.

He sighed and they sat in silence, the noise of the world drifting quietly through his windows and he missed Osaka for the hundredth time and regretted absolutely nothing. It was long time before either spoke, but e cracked first, because he really couldn't help it.

"Why, Kazuha, why do you keep doing this to yourself? I warn you every time and you just don't listen. You can't expect me to be able to keep doing this, I'm not able, don't you understand? You tear me to pieces." He said and they clung to each other, her in desperation and him in fear, fear for his oldest, truest friend.

"Because I can't stop, Heiji. I need to. I want someone to love me. I don't want to be alone. I can't take it anymore, it's eating me apart. I need someone, I need to matter." She said, her voice still quivering and shaking and he shifted his hold slightly.

"You can't keep doing this. If you won't stop for yourself, stop for me because you're killing me, you're really killing me." He said and it was almost downright begging.

She choked down those bitter words, the very idea that she was hurting him leaving a bad taste in her throat. If there was one person she never wanted to hurt.... "Heiji, I-I.." she trailed off but he let her be and she started anew. "If-f, if.......if neither one of us finds someone, if were both going to end up alone, in ten years, if we're still both like this....Would you do me that favor, Heiji? Would you let us at least be alone together? I do love you, in my own way, I do. Maybe not like that but we could live with each other, you and I, at least we'd be friends."

Her voice was light as a breeze and near silent and it shook like a leaf. He wondered if she was still upset or if she was afraid of his answer. "Kazuha, I love you in every way but that one and there have been moments, when it was hard to tell the difference. If you think I'm going to deny you this much you're crazy. Ten years. If in ten years, neither one of us is in a relationship, then I will do it. For both our sakes."

-----

"If there is anyone who objects to this union, speak now or forever hold your piece!"

At the same time, the looked each other in the eyes and whispered. "Last chance."

"You may now kiss the bride!"

He did, to the sound of applause and thought the least happy ones there were probably them.

-----

The afterglow was a strange thing to behold, the two of them lying there so innocently and wondering what the other was thinking.

-----

They had kids and memories and mutual friends. And they loved each other, in there own ways. And both thought to themselves, during those moments when they thought that maybe they'd made a mistake, that maybe someone out there was meant for them who would now not have the chance, both thought that what they had was okay, that they understood each other and were where they were supposed to be.

And maybe, even if they didn't love each other in the conventional way, even if neither one of them thought of the other's body when they should, even if things were not right or good in any sense of the word, they were okay. They were happy, content.

And that was enough, wasn't it?

**I was feeling rather melancholy when I wrote this, though it's been a while. Remember when no one could log in and answer reviews and stuff? Drove me crazy, that did! Either way, who wants to hear about a *gasp* Original Story? It's sad~! **


	27. The Jester

It was time, yet again. Time for the Jester to become the King once more. But he wanted one last run, one more time to spin and twirl as if he wasn't anybody at all.

Carefully, he applied the white makeup to his face. The Jester would leave his friends a clue to his mystery, a little piece of the King kept with the Jester and left for the mortals to think about. Such a thing was fitting enough. He spelled the black runes out carefully on his white arms.

'Til all are one.'

'I will return.'

Then, with the use of a mirror and a tiny brush smeared with black paint, he began to inscribe on his forehead and work his way down.

'Fear not, children of the Living, I will come for you and through me, you will take your places with the King of the Living while the Jester returns to walk the Earth in a fragile shell of Mortality.'

Finally, red contacts were pushed on to his eyes and he draped his cloak about him, letting the black hood obscure his ghastly countenance. Blackened teeth grinned at his image before he set off for school.

He met a blue-colored Magical girl along the way.

"Wow, you really went all out, didn't you?" she said, taking in the sight of him.

"It's not every day I can go to school like this, might as well make use of it." He said, carefully cracked white lips pulling back for a black smile in her direction.

Her hand came out and traces the strange markings on his face. "What are these though? They look so strange."

He took her fingers and carefully guided them to the rune he wished for her to take notice of. "You will see."

_I will come for you._

**Strangeness, right? Bet none of you spot the Transformers reference. But, on the off chance that one of you did, I make you an OC and will have another silly ffauthors!fanfic for me to tag on with the last one. I'm entitled to my fangirly-ness, who says I'm not? Using Google is cheating!**


	28. A Story That Doesn't Exist

Let me tell you a story that doesn't exist.

A babe out in the rain wails as she can, the cold seeps through like a dangerous mist.

A stoplight flashes in the dark. Yellow, yellow, yellow.

The babe wails on.

A cat cries, a shadow darts along.

A door creaks open.

The babe wails on.

"Shh shh." Says the stranger so softly.

The babe's wails quiet.

A streetlight flickers and dims.

"It'll be okay, little one. Shh shh, everything's okay. Shh shh, everything's okay."

Silence reigns, the mist swirls and the shadows count down in patience, awaiting the dim streetlight's last desperate flicker.

Shadows are hungry and rain pitter patters on poor rooftops.

The stranger takes the babe inside.

The streetlight flickers and dims, flickers and dims. It dies. All that remains is the stoplight. Yellow, yellow, yellow.

The world dies a quiet death and silence and shadows swirl in the mist.

* * *

**Happy Halloween! Remember children, treats not tricks! Kirby, put the eggs _away! _No egging profiles!_  
_**


	29. Egged

**YOU'VE JUST BEEN EGGED BY KIRBY! **

**FEEL THE PAIN!!!!!!!**

**PASS ON THE PRANK!**


	30. Scrapped Knees

It had started out with a paper cut.

This may seem like something insubstantial to most people, an annoyance, a brief bit of pain, but with a single drop of blood, it seals up and you go about you're day.

But he remembers every second of that paper cut. How it sliced his index finger in a flash. How he barely avoided cussing, aware of Ran's presence in the next room over. How the blood had beaded ever so carefully on the tip of his finger. How the cut healed itself before the blood could roll off the end of it, splashing down on to the floor in what felt like slow motion.

The end had come so soon after that. He still didn't know why it had happened, still didn't understand. The Black Organization had come for him that night. He only shared one frantic conversation with Haibara that offered any clues. She had told him it was too late for him to sneak out, to go to bed and she would see him in the morning.

But morning had seen him in the back of a van, knife at his throat.

They silt his throat then.

And five minutes later, he jumped out of the pile of scrap metal, wrecked after the driver had freaked at the sight of his bloody, gaping wound stitching itself together.

Three years later and he was still on his own and still the same age to boot. He tripped on the sidewalk

His knee dragged across the concrete.

It stitched itself together again and he kept walking, no sign of the accident other than a smear of blood on the sidewalk behind him.

No more scrapped knees.

**Hey everyone! Guess what? I made a 30 on my ACT! That's big news! With that kind of score, I can get into any college I want! And better yet, it was only my first time taking it. So I can keep doing better and better, maybe even make perfect on it one day. So, I was so happy I dragged this together for you all. Sorry its not much!**


	31. Simple Motions

Breathing like a child

Simple is the motion

All the world is―

―still.

"If I didn't know better."

He stops her―

―"But you do."

She is silent.

"If you could just listen

for one damn second,

maybe you could hear me."

"It's not my fault if you

can't speak understandably."

What he really means is

'I find your irritation

funny'

and he takes what he can get.

He doesn't laugh much―

―anymore.

The motion are still simple

―clocks and wind and breathing

arms swinging and lips turned

up or down and it doesn't matter―

But things mean more these days.

Simple motions carry the weight

Of the song and dance from before

―before; when things were complicated

and simple―

It really takes too long to explain.

But they were happy―

―in this moment.

And hoped for all the moments afterward

that those simple motions

would continue to mean the world

Heart beating like a child

Thoughtless is the motion

All the world is―

―still.


	32. Strength

It was a lie, in the end.

Why was it that everyone assumed that he was the strong one out of the two of them? Shinichi didn't know and he didn't really care. As long as Ran didn't mind being underestimated, he wouldn't bother to set them straight but he couldn't help but wonder.

Every day, Ran tagged along with him on his cases. She saw nearly every gruesome murder he did. And while he couldn't help but react with rage, push himself into a frenzy of must-catch-have-to-catch-murder-how-dare-they-how-dare-they? Ran just screamed. Once was all she ever let herself scream and then she was okay. She wanted the murder caught, of course she did, but she only ever allowed herself that one moment of panic.

She really just handled it better than him.

And then, when he came home at night, years later, after all of the hard things were over and done with, when he came home at night after witnessing a thousand tragedies, she was there.

No one would ever believe Kudo Shinichi cried in his wife's arms after work some days. It was always the children that were the worse.

'_Why?'_ he asked her, holding her so tight against him that he worried for her health later. _'Why?'_ he asked, as if she had the answers.

Her fingers always ended up in his hair, which had the same consistency as cotton balls, thick and soft. _'I don't know, Shinichi.' _She told him. _'I just don't know.'_

It could never be enough to fix it. But sometimes, a cut just needs a band-aide until it can fix itself.

When they have their own kids, friends and family alike are surprised to see Shinichi wearing a baby sling or carrying a diaper bag. When the kids get older, they are surprised the one who keeps carrying kids that are old enough to walk is Shinichi, not Ran.

Shinichi's rationale is simple, when _(and its when, not if)_ they get attacked, like it or not, Ran's the better fighter and he's the faster runner. When it eventually does happen, he curses himself again and again as he grabs up the kids and starts running, ignoring their shouts that he's leaving Kaachan behind. He's so relieved when he hears footsteps behind him and turns to see Ran, the look on her face telling him they are safe enough that he can slow enough for her to catch up and keep pace. He keeps the kids though, just in case.

It's that night that he really comes apart, holding her so tightly to him that he thinks they might become permanently attached to one another.

No one would believe she was the strong one.

Shinichi really didn't care.

* * *

**What can I say? Personally, I think Ran is more emotionally healthy than Shinichi. I think she has more inner strength. That's all. Enjoy the double update everyone! The next is more my forte. **


	33. Heartbeats

Everything could change in a heartbeat.

That was the one constant Heiji learned over the years, as he did his fair share of sleuthing about and around Japan. It only took a second -a heartbeat- for everything to go to hell and back in a hand basket.

He learned to be quick, because of that. He trained his body to be as fast as lightening and his mind even faster. In order to keep up with the world, the world where the only constant was change, Heiji had to commit himself to change. So he did, a million times, he changed to fit where there was a space for the Detective of the West. He nudged his way in there, sides and size and shape all changing to fit whatever new role he was inhabiting.

Heiji was good at change. He was good at flipping around and about in the space of a heartbeat.

That heartbeat where everything changed this time around, though, he hated it.

He hated it with a passion so fierce and bright, so thick and deep, that he could never, ever force himself into the space left behind for him because-

Because-

Because the space left would be much too large for him alone, if Kazuha left it.

The gunman tightened his grip on Kazuha, she winced but did not cry out. She did not look at Heiji, she was too good for that. If she was looking at him, begging him to save her, then she might miss her chance to save herself. In a moment –a heartbeat—she could knock the man's gun away or deliver a swift strike to a vulnerable area to knock him unconscious. So her eyes were on her assailant, not Heiji.

Still….

"You tell your father that he either lets Nozomi go, or this girl here is going to have a long chat with me about her options for replacing her. See, Nozomi was in a little bit of debt and I will get paid, sex, money, blood, I don't care. You tell your dad that, kid."

Right now, the world was measured in Kazuha's heartbeats.

* * *

**Hope everyone liked it! And yes, actually, this is the end. Enjoy that.**


	34. MNF: Teacher of the Year

"Hello class. My name is Nakamori Aoko and I will be your homeroom teacher for this year." A 35 year old woman said to her class of teenagers. Several of them were eyeing the empty seat by the window enviously and she thought it best to go ahead and clear that up.

"I'm sure some have noticed the seat by the window doesn't have a name on it by now." She said, referring to the nametags she'd put on each desk. Carefully, she had sat friends by friends and loners in the back, just as they would've picked themselves so that no one would be tempted to ignore the clear assignments and sit in his seat. "Well, there is actually a reason for that."

"Aww, don't tell me that's a "Time Out" seat or something!" one of the girls said to her friend, but Aoko heard, nonetheless.

"Of course not, Namabuchi-kun." Aoko said. "Let me introduce my teacher aide, Kaito. Kaito, come up here please." She said and the class looked at her as if she were crazy. Suddenly, the empty desk chair scraped loudly across the linoleum. A book off a nearby desk was scooped up into the air and the pages ruffled through quickly.

"Hey, Aoko, we got new books this year!" he said, unheard by the rest of the class.

"Kaito, at least wait until after I explain to start up. Come on, just this once?" she said, exasperatedly.

The book landed back on the desk it had come from, the boy in the seat looking quite undone.

"Some of you may have heard this already, some of you might have not. This is class 2B, aka, the Haunted Classroom. Kaito is our resident trickster ghost and, to date, I and one little girl who passed through briefly on a dare, are the only to ones to ever be able to see or hear him. Though, if you like, he's more than able to prove he's here." Aoko said, grinning slightly.

The class looked at her in shocked silence. Finally, someone spoke up.

"You can prove it?" the boy asked.

"Of course. Though I'd advise the faint of heart to leave. Kaito's got a bad record of causing people to pass out on the first go. He likes to make an entrance." Aoko said and a couple of girls stood up and walked outside. "No one else? Okay then. Go on, Kaito."

"You sound so unexcited." He said, grinning and lifting the nearest desk, occupant and all, into the air.

"That's just because I know at least a couple of students are going to transfer out of my class after you get done with them." she said, sighing as he pulled the student from the desk and sat him on the ground before grabbing another desk, striping it of it's occupant and adding it on top of the other one. He continued the process with a detached air.

"Good riddance. Then we can be _alone._" He said, stretching the last word out suggestively.

"Kaito, I am over thirty years old and you, for all appearances, are a teenager. It's not happening." She said and the class simply watched as more and more of their classmates were pulled from their desks so that they could be added to what was looking like a Leaning Tower of Desks.

"I don't care, I'll wait for you, Aoko!" he said cheekily.

"Wait for what, Kaito? I'm _not _sticking around with you in this classroom for all eternity." She said, scowling in his direction.

"Then I'll just follow you then!" he said happily as he finished his tower.

"You left the other half of the class completely untouched." She pointed out and he grinned.

"Well, I can't add them to this, the classroom's too short. But I'll think of something." He said with a smirk.

"No property damage, Kaito! I mean it! That includes my students!" Aoko growled at him and he laughed.

"Right, right. How about this?" he said, dying one girl's hair purple and dropping another girl onto her desk.

"Change her hair back." Aoko said with little force and Kaito did as she said with a smile.

"Aren't you finished yet? Taku, what am I going to do with you?" Aoko said with a resigned air and Kaito frowned slightly before beginning to fix the classroom.

"That's precisely what I'm wondering, Aoko, you're getting old. Too old for all this. Don't you think you should move on? I'm trapped here for eternity, but you don't have to be. Go on and live your life, I won't hold it against you." Kaito said and Aoko frowned at him.

"I'll decide when I've had enough on my own, Kaito. Will you write your name on the board please? I'm going to get the ones out of the hall." She said and walked out.

Kaito sighed and began spelling out her name in katakana on the board. Underneath he introduced himself to the class as well. _'My name is Kuroba Kaito. I was killed in this classroom 28 years ago and haven't been able to leave since. I'm sorry none of you can see or hear me, but we can fix the seeing problem soon enough. I hope none of you will decide to transfer out of the class, I don't pull pranks very often, Aoko is a scary girl when she wants to be. I met her 18 years ago when she transferred here mid-semester. You're all very lucky to have her as your teacher.' _

Kaito watched their eyes carefully as they read the information and when the last of them stopped moving from line to line, he erased all of it but the first sentence before Aoko came back in. After debating with himself for a moment, he added _'Yoroshiku.'_ Behind it as Aoko walked back through the door, reassuring the teenagers that Kaito wouldn't really hurt them, he was just fooling around.

After everyone was in their seats once again, Aoko walked to the front of the room and sat on top of her desk as she surveyed the classroom. "Okay, who wants to leave?"

None of the students raised their hands and Aoko beamed. "Really? None of you want to have a different classroom?" All hands stayed down and Kaito thought to himself that she looked happier than he'd seen her in a long time. "Great! Well, in that case, how about everyone introduces themselves and then we'll see if we can't make Kaito a little more visible for the rest of you, sound good?"

A young man in the front row volunteered to go first. "My name's Kudo Minoru. Yoroshiku."

Out of the corner of her eye, Aoko saw Kaito twitch at the name and look up.

The girl next to the boy stood up as he seated himself. "Kudo Minori." She said shyly before seating herself again quickly.

Kaito twitched again and moved closer to the two of them as the rest of the class began to give their names. "No way, Kudo had kids..." she heard him mummer as he approached their desks. Silently, he placed his hands on the boy's desk and leaned in closely to study his face. Then, without a sound to alert the two in question he moved on to the girl, who shivered as he scrutinized her face, but otherwise did not show signs of know he was there. "Mouri?" he whispered and Aoko barely heard it over the sound of her student's introductions.

"Is that everyone?" Aoko said after the room had fallen silent and she took the silence as a yes before moving on.

"Alright, Kaito, time to get dressed." She said and the students' eyes widened at her choice of words. Was he a _naked _ghost?

"Fine, fine, whatever." Kaito grumbled, good-naturedly and Aoko began to pull jackets and gloves out of a box in the corner, much to the students' relief as they finally got the picture. She handed them to Kaito, who put them on without much care, until nearly his entire body was covered. He probably looked ridiculous, like some invisible manikin wearing badly matching snow wear (Aoko snagged the stuff from the goodwill a couple of blocks down the street), but at least the students would know where he was now. He still couldn't believe Aoko went through with this every year.

"And that's it everyone! I know you guys still can't hear him, which makes does make it kind of awkward, having me sitting hear carrying on one side of a conversation, but I'm sure we can have a great year anyways. Besides, at least things won't be boring, right?"

"Want to know something interesting?" Kaito asked as Aoko tidied up the classroom after school.

"Sure." She said, sticking the broom in the closet.

"Those twins, the Kudos. I think they're the kids of one of my high school friends. He was a bit of a detective, he caught my murderer, you know?" Kaito said.

Aoko hoisted herself up on top of her desk. "Really? That's interesting, isn't it? That someone who you know has teenaged kids and they're in your classroom."

"Your classroom, actually, sensei." Kaito said cheekily. "I wonder what Kudo will say if his kids tell him there's a ghost in their class named Kuroba Kaito. He never believed in ghosts, you know. I mean, he _really _didn't believe in them. Got into a week long fight in middle with his best friend about it, because she most definitely did. It was pretty entertaining, actually. Good times."

"I bet." Aoko agreed noncommittally, staring out the window.

They sat in familiar silence for a long moment.

"She looked like you." Kaito said suddenly. "Kudo's best friend, Ran. She looked like you. Just about exactly. Her hair was neater and her face was a little sharper. But she looked like you." The apparition sighed. "She's probably all grown up by now. Her and Kudo probably got married and had those kids. They've probably had long and happy lives."

"Kaito?" Aoko said, wondering at the melancholy.

"Sorry, Aoko." Kaito cracked a smile for her. "I just….I'm never growing up, you know. You _have _to have realized there's nothing here for you, right? Even…even if you were to die, you probably wouldn't end up a ghost. You wouldn't haunt this classroom here with me. There's nothing here for you, Aoko, what are you doing here?" His voice was sad and lonely, even as he tried to drive her away for the billionth time.

Aoko smiled. "I'm fine where I am, thanks."

A slight breeze made the wind-chimes shake about, the bright ringing piercing the room as the orange glow of sunset settled around them.

"There's a whole life out there waiting for you. A big house and lots of kids and some guy who would take care of you and you could grow old together, you and that guy. You'd be happy like that, with those things." Kaito said. His voice did not come out as too fast like he thought it might when he started. He sounded reasonable this time.

Aoko hopped down off her desk and gave the ghost a hug that only she could give. He exhaled loudly before breathing in, lungs that he didn't need anymore filling with the scent of Aoko and wasn't it funny how she smelled like a teacher now? Like lemon scented cleaners and textbooks, new and old. He clutched at her while she was there, more desperate for physical touch than he'd ever thought he would be when he was alive. He took so many things for granted when he was alive.

"Thank you." He said softly, his face buried in the juncture of her neck.

"You're welcome." She said back just as quietly.

The wind-chimes sounded off again, the clear ringing in the room sounding a bit like starting over again. It always did.

* * *

**Oh, yes, and I almost forgot about this. This has been sitting unfinished on my harddrive for a while now, so I finished it up real quick for you guys. Let me know what you think! (Also, now I have officially posted one story for every main couple in one night without purposely trying to do that, I might add. Go me!)**


End file.
